GRADE-’A’ ENTERTAINMENT: UK’S ED SHEERAN ARRIVES

By Jeff Axelrod

I’ll readily admit to being an Anglophile; I fell in love with all things British after my first visit to London in 1995.  I especially love their music, and I’ll often get my fix by going online to listen to the BBC’s streaming radio broadcasts.  That’s how I first heard about Ed Sheeran — when a BBC Radio 1 DJ chose his song, “The A Team,” as her “song of the week.”  Sweetly melodic, but with a heart-wrenchingly haunting lyric, it was one of those songs that won me over the first time I heard it.

So I was thrilled to find out that Ed’s been picked up by a record label here in the States, and even more excited to find out we’d get a chance to bring him into the Fox All Access studios and see his first headlining gig at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood..

He didn’t disappoint at either venue.

In the studio, he played three songs for us, just his guitar and voice.  He showed off his softer side with “The A Team” and “Lego House” (you’ll find his acoustic version of “The A Team” below), and showed off his hip-hop side on “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” which shows off his ability to spit rhymes at nearly hypersonic speed.

Needless to say, we were impressed.  And when Chris Leary sat down to talk with him, we discovered a young man whose soul is much older than his 20 years.  He’s thoughtful and grounded, yet still possesses that wickedly dry British sense of humor.

Before I got to the Hotel Cafe for his show, I was expecting the typical showcase crowd — curious-but-jaded industry types, wondering if they’re indeed witnessing the much-hyped “next big thing.”  But when I arrived, I was shocked to see that Ed’s already picked up a fervently devoted fan base.  (Surprisingly enough, I learned that a lot of the young fans found out about Ed because of “Harry Potter” actor Rupert Grint’s appearance in the official “Lego House” video.)

Then the show started, and over the course of the next 90 minutes or so, he had the audience mesmerized with his mix of acoustic numbers and uptempo songs augmented by intricately built beat-boxing loops.  And though he’s built up his stage act over the course of hundreds of shows (in one year alone, he played more than 300 gigs), he wasn’t afraid to change things up.  When he heard some young women singing harmony during “Lego House,” he spontaneously invited them up on stage to help him finish the song.  (Afterward, one of the women, who’d flown in from Chicago earlier in the day for the show, simply said, “I can die now.”)

Soon, we’ll be posting Chris Leary’s interview with Ed Sheeran, along with more of his music.  For now, though, enjoy his acoustic version of his first single, “The A Team.”

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