Its been a pretty slow time for music this past month. No one has really been releasing music and I haven't been going to concerts all the time either. Until now, on July 3rd I went to see Ed Sheeran, supported by Rixton, at the Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee at Summerfest. Before I dive in and tell you over and over again how amazing Ed was, let me first start off with the surprise attack opening act, Rixton.
Now, I say that they are a surprise attack because I had no idea that they were that great of a live band. I knew one song by them, the song of the summer a few years ago..Me and My Broken Heart, and that was it. I knew who they were and that they sang that song and that I liked that song. But, I never gave any more effort into listening to their other music or checking out online to see if they are worth spending money to see live. So when I heard that they were opening up for Ed, I was like okay..we shall see how they are, and they were surprisingly one of the better opening acts I've seen in a while.
First off, their sound was solid. Even though I did not know any of their music, I found myself dancing and hearing the words to the ones I didn't know. I hate when you go to a show and you don't know one of the acts that well and their sound is so unbalanced that you can't hear what the singer is saying. Just loud noise is not a pleasant thing to hear at a concert. But Rixton was very well balanced and I could hear everything he was saying.
Second, they were entertaining to watch. They interacted with the crowd in a way that wasn't like they were trying hard, but more so like they were here to have a good time and were feeding off the crowds energy. The lead singer even got down into the crowd and chatted with a little girl, I'm assuming she was little (young) by the tone of her voice. He dedicated the song he was singing to her, asked her if she would be his best friend and then proceeded to take a selfie with her. It was so adorable!
Lastly, they did play some covers of songs as well, since they were a bit more unknown in America, its always good to play some covers of well known songs for the crowd. They did a mash up of some popular radio songs, past and present, one of the songs being "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce. But during the whole set the band was dancing and getting the crowd hyped. And when I say dancing, I mean, they had some moves. I don't think I have ever seen an all white-male band from England dance like that before!
Overall, I was throughly impressed with Rixton and I am definitely going to check out more of their songs because they sold it so well to me during the concert that I am now intrigued.
Now, onto what you’ve wanted to read about. Ed
Sheeran. I’m going to do my overall rating first, because it pretty much sums
it all up before I break it all down.
5 out of 5 stars and HOW DOES SOMEONE SOUND
BETTER LIVE THAN THEIR STUDIO ALBUMS???
Seriously though, Ed Sheeran live is better than
his studio albums. If he would release a live concert album I would listen to
nothing else but that. His sound, the building on the loop pedal, the intricate
mixing of different songs from not only his own albums but covers of songs from
different decades. The man is a walking talent show and it never ceases to
amaze me on the things he can do with just his voice and a guitar.
This was my second time seeing Ed live, the
first time was three years ago at The Rave in Milwaukee. Still a big venue, but
it was more intimate and one of the best shows that I’ve ever seen. This one
was in a much larger venue with thousands of people, but it still felt like I
was in an intimate setting with him, back at The Rave.
Ed has this way of drawing you in so it feels
like it’s just you and him in a room, especially during his slower songs. I
just focused my eyes and attention on him and it felt like I was the only one
in the room. When I expressed this to some of my friends I thought they would
think I was strange for saying that, but they totally felt the same way. And if
you were to ask anyone else who’s seen him live, they will probably agree with
you. But in a change of a chord he is busting out one of his more upbeat songs
and the room just explodes and its you and thousands of people again all having
the time of your life.
Now, lets break this down…
Stage Set Up/Lighting
His stage set up was amazing. The stage was a
fairly average size stage for an amphitheater, and it was just him up there. So
tiny Ed on a big stage, but he had screens that were placed at different
heights behind him that would project not only his face, but also beautiful
images to go along with the song he was singing at the time. The colors of
green, blue, yellow and red worked well with setting the moods for each song
that he sang as well.
Sound Balance
Now I’m not sure if the Marcus Amphitheater is
to be credited for this, if Ed and Rixton just have amazing sound people, or a
little of both…but the sound was so well balanced I didn’t get that awful
vibration of clashing tones in my ears nor did I hear the instruments over the
voices or vice versa. Everything was super well balanced and you could hear
everything with clarity…besides maybe when the crowd would scream whenever Ed
would say something like “I like cheese.” (but my rants on fan girls screaming
every two seconds is a different blog post entirely)
Song Selection/Stage Performance
The songs that he played were mainly off of his
newest album “Multiply” which is pretty obvious because that is the current
album of his that is out. But he did also bring us back to his last album
“Plus” by singing the popular “The A Team” but also singing some of the more
intimate songs off that album like “This” and the other favorite “Lego House.”
He did mash up some of his own songs as well
which I thought was pretty cool and different. Not many artist will do a mash
up of their own songs, most will maybe play one song and creatively transition
into the next, but Ed would mix a few of his songs together so you didn’t know
if he was going to sing the first song that he started with or the second. He
also threw in some older songs like “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder and “Ain’t
No Sunshine” by Bill Withers that was beautifully done with changes in tempo
and overall gave this different mood to the atmosphere. He also threw in a
medley of his song “Don’t” with “No Diggity” by Blackstreet and “Loyal” by Chris
Brown.
Again, overall the show was amazing. Very well
put together and flowed so effortlessly which created an experience no one
would forget. I definitely would recommend if you ever get the chance to see Ed
Sheeran as well as Rixton when they come to a town nearest you. You definitely
will not be disappointed.
Stay rad,
Stefanie
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