It seems every time you turn on the TV, the world is falling to pieces. That some disaster is plaguing a part of the world, a politician is spouting something offensive or some other horrific event is causing reality to seem terrifying and depressing. But every now and then, we get some kind of relief from all the negative and find a beacon of light within the clouds. I was fortunate to have one of those moments this past weekend.
I fell in love with Ed Sheeran when he put out the “X” album. The CD caught my eye in the store and I decided to splurge. Sure I’d heard “The A Team” and “Lego House” but that was about the extent of my knowledge of his stuff. Gosh am I so grateful I grabbed the disk. When I got home I put on the music and discovered my new favorite album (granted my favorite album changes weekly, but I still love X to this day).
All the music played on the radio seemed to sound the same. Just some noise with a heavy bass and a thumping beat, maybe an occasional ballad. But here was someone who made something different than the traditional radio. Here was someone who looked into his roots and tried to create something that wasn’t just pop. And he succeeded. The songs were split into a great variety, from upbeat and funky to slow ballads that tugged on the heartstrings. I have yet to hear a song by Ed Sheeran I didn’t like. He has yet to do wrong by me.
For the past few years, every time Ed Sheeran has come on my car radio I have had to listen to it. Fast forward a few years—when November rolled around, tickets for Ed’s concert at Gillette Stadium were about to go on sale. My boyfriend and I both loved Ed, so naturally I wanted to try to get tickets for him for Christmas. But my ambition rose above my bank account. Mom told me it was a sweet idea but not plausible for me. Never did I guess she would get the tickets for me.
Christmas morning is always funny for me because my mom loves to give one “big” gift, and she tries to come up with a better one every year. This year was extra special though because it was my first with a boyfriend. He spent the night and shared in the specialness of the morning with hot cinnamon rolls and good cheer. When Mom told me my “big” gift was this little rolled up tube, I have to admit I was kind of disappointed. But I knew regardless of what it was it would be awesome (because the momma knows). I opened a tube, and it turned out to be a poster of Ed Sheeran on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Apparently my boyfriend saw the tickets taped to the back of the poster when I didn’t. It took a little encouragement, but I finally figured out that my big gift was tickets to see Ed Sheeran on Sept. 15 at Gillette.
Last weekend was the concert. I hope I never forget that night because it really did touch my heart. The stadium was sold out, jam-packed with people old and young who seemed to have one thing in common: a love for a man with a guitar and his music.
The anticipation of everyone wanting to see Ed was incredible. The stadium wasn’t even full yet when the first opening act went on, because people didn’t care who it was—they cared about seeing Ed Sheeran. And when he finally came out, the roar was deafening.
I have never been to a concert so full of love and happiness as I did here. It amazed me, and it even made me tear up a bit. Ed was just walking around, singing and playing and just being himself, and people were loving it. His music made people dance around and genuinely have a good time with those they were there with. When he asked people to clap, they clapped. When he asked them to jump, they jumped. But the most incredible thing was when he asked everyone to turn on the flashlights for their phones. Night turned to day, and the stadium looked like a sea of stars waving around. It was magical, beautiful and breathtaking. Every song was sung back to Ed.
In that moment it felt like the outside world was a dream and nothing existed except for the music and the man. There was no hate. Only love. Love for music, love for a man, love for each other. I had to cling to my boyfriend beside me because I was so overcome with emotion I thought I’d fall over. How could the rest of the world not realize that music is more powerful than any war or resentment it threw at the population? How could anyone look at the same thing I was seeing and not feel overpowered with emotion?
When it was all over I wished I could rewind the day and keep reliving what I’d just been to. I still wish I could go back and see the concert again. If I had the money and ability I would go to every Ed Sheeran concert so I could get that feeling of togetherness back in my heart. If I could take anything from the concert, it would be that yes, the world is full of bad people and tragedy. But it also has good people with the ability to bring thousands of individuals together and connect through a shared love for something. My hope is that someday we can all find a way for that sense of love and hope to spread on a global scale, and maybe it could make the world a more wonderful place.