BOSTON–It didn’t matter that I had just gotten the tickets less than 24 hours before.  It didn’t matter that I was in the very last row in the back corner of the House of Blues.  It didn’t matter that the people in front of me were possibly the most irritating people I have ever come into contact with.  It didn’t even matter that I had no idea what the name of the woman was who was on stage absolutely killing it.  All that mattered was that I was sitting with a friend enjoying incredible music with the promise of so much more later in the night.

On September 19, I went to the House of Blues in Boston, completely last minute in true Smith family fashion, to see Ed Sheeran, a British singer-songwriter whose music runs the gauntlet of genres from folk to pop with even some rap influences.  I had no idea who his opening acts were prior to the concert, and didn’t even catch the name of the first opening act until the end of the concert.  Her name was irrelevant; all that I cared about was how soulful her music was and how much I needed her music on my iPod immediately.  I now know her same is Selah Sue, and she is a Belgian singer-songwriter with an incredibly passionate voice.  Even not knowing a word to her songs, I was blown away by her set.  Her music tends more towards soul and funk, and her voice was flawless and perfectly matched her songs.  Her raw, raspy, heavily accented voice conveyed such an emotional connection to the songs, especially in the ballads “Mommy” and “Break.”  It also shined on “Fyah Fyah,” a much more aggressive but no less emotive song which highlighted her voice in a completely different manner.  The aggressive nature of the song led to her using her voice onomatopoetically, accenting the syncopated beats with her voice as opposed to with her guitar.  It is also important to note that all three acts of the night were simply them with an acoustic guitar, which made the experience that much more intimate.

Passenger was the second opening act for Sheeran, and I fell in love almost instantly.  Also a British singer-songwriter, Mike Rosenberg, who goes by the stage name Passenger, charmed the crowd from the start, getting the building dead silent for a rendition of Paul Simon’s “Sound of Silence,” which was so heartbreakingly beautiful that everyone seemed terrified to cough or sneeze just because they didn’t want to be the one to interfere with this seemingly magical experience.  The acoustic guitar gently grew in aggression throughout the song, to the point that towards the end of the song the guitar seemed to relentlessly pound through the audience before backing off to end the song acapella with a haunting whisper.  The remainder of his set continued on this fairly melancholy tone, with two exceptions.  The comical song “I Hate” poked fun at all of the various everyday things that no one can stand, and Passenger again showed his control over the audience by having everyone shout the chorus as loud as possible if we also hate the things described in the song.  After the first line, “I hate racist blokes telling ignorant jokes,” he stopped to comment that just as a recap, if we didn’t shout the chorus as loud as possible, we are racists, which gained a laugh from the audience and definitely put us on his side.  Other notable lines from the song included “Pointless status updates on Facebook” and, when talking about celebrities using Botox, he comments, “Just grow old with grace, have you seen Cher’s face?  It looks like it’s been hit by a truck.”  The other exception to the overall sad tone to Passenger’s set was the final song “Holes” which acknowledged that we all have hardships, but we push through, offering some type of hope.

Ed Sheeran opened with an extended version of “Give Me Love,” then following up with “Drunk” and giving the audience a look at what the rest of the concert would bring.  He used a looping pedal throughout the concert which allowed him to record guitar and vocals on the spot to provide backing music.  Another constant for the concert was the usage of the audience as his “Gospel Choir,” having the crowd split up and harmonize parts as he sang over them.  He highlighted his skill with the looping pedal on “Wayfaring Stranger,” a traditional folk song which proved that the only thing more entrancing than Ed Sheeran’s voice is Ed Sheeran’s voice harmonizing with itself 30 times over.  Even more breathtaking was how silent the crowd got once Sheeran stopped the backing music, and he sang completely acapella without the microphone, projecting through the House of Blues so that even I, in the very back row, could hear his voice loud and clear.  Sheeran continued his set with “Grade 8” and “Small Bump,” which was around the time that I began pitying the person filming next to me who no doubt recorded more of my off-key enthusiastic singing than Sheeran’s.  He sang a beautiful rendition of the Nina Simone song “Be My Husband,” then introduced “The Tuning Song,” saying cheekily that it is used to keep the audience occupied as he tunes for the next song, which was “This.”  He wanted to recreate an experience he had at a music festival at 2 in the morning, swaying to a song he didn’t know and making up the lyrics, so he instructed the crowd to grab the people around them and sway, and at one point had the entire audience simply scream out whatever came to their mind for the next lyric.  Next was “Kiss Me,” another instance in which the crowd was almost spookily silent while the House of Blues echoed with Sheeran’s heartbreaking voice.  Next came “UNI” and a duet with Passenger on “Hearts on Fire,” and then finished with “Lego House” before leaving and subsequently coming back on for encores.  He performed a 15-minute long version of “You Need Me But I Don’t Need You,” adding various verses, and splitting the audience into “Sharks” and “Jets” competing back and forth with different lyrics to see which group would be the loudest.  This clearly seemed to be the most fun Sheeran had while on stage that night, and the song was simply explosive when performed live.  He finished with “The Parting Glass,” a traditional Irish folk song sung again without a microphone, and closed the concert with his most popular single, “The A Team.”

Something that all three performers of the night shared, besides attractive accents, was the connection they had to their instrument and their music.  Never before have I seen anyone perform with such a commitment to not only their music, but to ensuring that the audience is as involved as possible in the experience of the music.  Sheeran especially got the crowd involved in nearly every song, and it made for the best concert I have ever been to.