Live Review: Ed Sheeran, Jamie Lawson, Conrad Sewell

From the moment he walked on stage, guitar in hand, the roar from the crowd was deafening. One-man band Ed Sheeran fronted a sold-out crowd at Sydney’s Qantas Credit Union Arena Tuesday night, APRA Awards night, and showed us what true artistry is about.

Conrad Sewell opened the night for a steadily building crowd. The Brisbane-based youngster performed a short but sweet set as revellers trickled in out of the rain and into the arena.

Next up was Jamie Lawson, whose voice and guitar work were on point, but his songs were rather melancholy and really a bit of a depression session. It wasn’t until he told us he was to be the first artist signed to Sheeran’s new recording label that people really started paying attention.

But it was of course Ed Sheeran who stole the night. The adorably cheeky ginger bounded onto the stage saying, “I’ve been losing my voice a lot over the last week and I’m perfectly happy to lose it again tonight. I hope you do too.”

Beginning with I’m A Mess and Lego House, with only a guitar, his voice and a loop station, he filled the arena with layer upon layer of sound. There were moments when the entire crowd was frozen to the spot, completely in awe of what they were witnessing.

Despite the fact he was suffering from a bout of the ‘flu, he powered through, single-handedly creating hip hop beats through foot stomping, guitar thwacks and beat-boxing in Drunk and The A Team among other songs.

His down-to-earth personality shone through, whether he was taking the piss out of his own rapping or bursting into laughter when a single girl let out a shrill scream through one of his songs, giving the moment the feeling of a more intimate pub gig, despite the enormity of the venue, or his stardom.