This is the short and sweet story of how we ended up at an Ed Sheeran concert! 🎶
Around 2 weeks ago I saw a contest that hmv started in order to celebrate their 100th anniversary (for my Romanian friends: this is a similar shop to Diverta or Cărturești that focuses on music and movies). It was a chance to win a pair of tickets for an intimate Ed Sheeran show in Coventry. I didn’t even check to see how far or close we live from Coventry. I put my name down in the draw without even thinking of the slightest chance to win, because – let’s face it – it’s Ed Sheeran we’re talking about. The guy that sells tickets and albums faster than the whole Fast & Furious series combined, therefore I knew the amount of people that will try to win tickets was going to be massive.
But I won. Around a week ago I got an email that said “Congratulations!” and I read it at least 3 times because I thought it was a spam – especially that lately I got 2 phone calls from 2 different people pretending to be representatives of some big ass companies. One guy was inviting me and my family to a private party and giving us lots of money, the other one told me he has free iPhones to give away. He also called me “madam”, so I declined the nice offer. 🙄
Only after we realized it was for real and legit, we started Googling the location and town, hmv empire Coventry. 2 hours and 30 minutes away! Crap. How can we make it work? You know, juggling a normal work pattern and all.
I got married to the best person when it comes to adventures, because he’s all up for it! 🥰 We both wanted to see Ed Sheeran live for a long time, and we decided we couldn’t let this chance pass. On the Wednesday, 25th of August 2021, we went to work in the morning and drove up to Coventry straight after. It was cutting it really close, but we didn’t just made it. We got there in time, checked into the hotel and walked into the venue with about 10-15 minutes before the opening act!
The opening act – Maisie Peters
I never heard of Maisie Peters before this event. She was announced as the opening act for Ed Sheeran and that’s when I listened to a couple of her songs on her Youtube channel. She reminds me a bit of Olivia Rodrigo, especially when it comes to the lyrics from her songs.
Maisie Peters is 21 years old and is one of the artists signed by Ed Sheeran as part of his record label, Gingerbread Man Records. Her debut album, You Signed Up For This was released today and it’s pretty good. I love the title track the most.
Ed Sheeran, and his first concert after 2 years
In a way, I didn’t know what to expect, because I never saw him live. I was certain of his amazing talent and beautiful songs, but I was so excited to see him interact with the audience. And it was pure bliss. Ed Sheeran is the most natural, honest, and open artist I’ve ever got a chance to see perform live. He has the biggest success an artist could ever dream of, but he is equally the most down to Earth person as well.
He didn’t had a set for this concert and admitted with a very honest voice and monologue “I am here to have fun and play some songs”. He took the opportunity to go through all of his albums, starting with + and singing his way through to the beautiful and touching chorus of Visiting Hours, going back to the roots of The A Team, making magic with his loop pedal and guitar while singing Shape of You, and teasing the album = with two new songs that he decided to play for the first time in front of a public.
Ed Sheeran made sure to tell all of us that there is more than one album coming out in the near future, talked about his daughter turning 1 on Saturday. He reminisced his childhood spending time in hmv stores and flicking through albums and vinyls, giving thanks to hmv for organising the event after almost 2 years of not performing in front of a live audience.
It was the most amazing night that we’ve had in such a long time, and I am forever in awe of how raw Ed Sheeran is on stage, of what an absolute normal human being he is, just a guy and a guitar. A one man show that I really hope I’ll get to see live again, and again, and again.
Discovering and visiting Coventry
The following morning we had a quick English breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant and took to the streets of Coventry where we’ve never been before. We didn’t knew anything about this town and all of its amazing history that we’ve discovered, the cathedral ruins and the Coventry Cathedral, the story behind it and local customs. I will let the pictures talk more about this town, that I will say it was a very nice surprise indeed!
Breakfast in a restaurant, live music, staying at a hotel, browsing through stores, visiting a museum, smiling. Simple things that I’ve never appreciated more.
Thank you to hmv for this occasion! Ed Sheeran’s new album = comes out on 29th October, and Maisie Peters’ album You Signed Up For This is out now!
