Ed Sheeran live at London’s O2 Arena: “A spectacularly minimal show”

Ed Sheeran rocked London with a stirring set at London’s O2 Arena last night (October 15).

Appearing on stage in his trademark baggy jeans/check shirt combo with little more than an acoustic guitar, the singer-songwriter proved himself more than enough to fill the stage at the 20,000-capacity venue for the last of his four sold-out shows in the city.

"Tonight my goal is for you all to lose your voices," he announced after opening with I'm A Mess from his latest album X; and the crowd didn't need much convincing.

A photo posted by Official Charts (@officialcharts) on Oct 15, 2014 at 12:50pm PDT

It's hardly surprising, given the record is currently the best-selling artist LP of the year, hitting Number 1 on the the Official Albums Chart for eight weeks and refusing to leave the Top 10 since its release in June. His previous album, +, was also a transatlantic smash.

Ed powered through the 17-song set with supreme confidence and infectious energy. In the absence of a big production, the crowd – which was less female heavy than you might expect - sang along whilst creating their own mobile phone-generated lightshow to hits Lego House, One and Give Me Love.

A video posted by Official Charts (@officialcharts) on Oct 15, 2014 at 2:57pm PDT

A smorgasbord of effects pedals controlled solely by Ed and a succession of different guitars ensured his meatier tracks were given the full works, creating his own vocal loops and layered melodies on rousing tracks Afire Love and Bloodstream. Such a technique even allowed him to successfully mash-up Don’t with Chris Brown’s Loyal and Blackstreet’s No Diggity, while Runaway concluded with a chorus of Backstreet’s Back while the crowd did their best “hip hop hands”.

The result may not have been the spectacle the O2 is used to, but as Ed announced early on in the show: "My job is to entertain you, and for you to be entertained." Mission accomplished.

Ed Sheeran performed:

I’m a Mess
Lego House
Don’t
Drunk
Take it Back
One
Bloodstream
Tenerife Sea
Run Away
Photograph
Afire Love
Thinking Out Loud
Give Me Love
I See Fire
You Need Me, I Don’t Need You
The A Team
Sing

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