a night seeing ed sheeran!

last weekend, steven and i snuck away for a night to see ed sheeran play downtown!! and when i say snuck… i mean… our children were both sobbing dramatically as we left, traffic was absolutely insane, and then we walked at least a mile there and back from where we parked [ouch. my body.] so… maybe we didn’t so much sneak as make a complete pilgrimage out of it but…

ED, YOU WERE SO WORTH IT!!!

there aren’t very many live shows that i know steven and i would both want to see. truly, there aren’t. but, mr. edward sheeran is one we are both kind of fascinated by. so! two tickets as early birthday gifts for each of us… bestowed by my parents… aaaand done! an evening of ed!!

now, i just really don’t think i quite understood the extent of his talent before seeing him live. i mean, i’d heard it was an amazing show, i’d anticipated that! i already loved his music. i’d seen videos of him live. but i just did not reaaaaallly know. like. how does one generally mild-seeming englishman stand up there all by his lonesome and make the amount of noise of a huge entire band?!! just up there bouncing around the stage, filling! a! stadium! moving an audience that size! i was mesmerized. completely mesmerized.

i mean, i think maybe i’ve become accustomed to either shows that are just huge, crazy productions [like t-swift. and, oh, i love a big production! i was sad to miss her this year, but luckily i’ve seen her 2 or 3 times and this was just not my year.] OR a more humble just a man and his guitar type of scenario… but a man and his guitar that can create a big production standing on stage by himself? [he really didn’t get all that crazy with the stage setup or anything!] …well, that i just did not expect!

also, i made sure to catch a little video here and there of a bunch of mostly slower songs that i knew maddalena would enjoy seeing clips of later… but some of the songs i actually really haven’t wanted to listen to in the car turned out to be my favorites live! i mean. i felt like i was ON something at one point. [i think during bloodstream, so maybe that was the idea?] like, how. is. he. doing. THIS. just one little powerhouse of a redhead completely blowing my mind with his fancy looping pedals and all that. anyway, now i wish i’d taken some clips of some of the faster, louder ones, but… i couldn’t. because i was in a complete trance… slash moving around too much!

it was… really good. 🙂 thank you, ed! and mom and dad! and bean and p!

sidenote: as we walked back to our car, oooover the bridge, i took a picture of two cranes for rocco that are hovering over downtown for daddy’s work. love that boy and his love for a good construction site! [which he pronounces, “FUCTION SITE!!” exclaiming every time we pass one! haha.]

and! nothing impressive [especially considering i cannot hold still when music is playing], but if you’re curious, here’s a little compilation of the clips i snagged for maddalena… the only song i captured in full is thinking out loud [at 4:00] because that’s our fav. <3 and still wishing i’d gotten some of those trippier numbers, but it wouldn’t translate, anyway!