Review: Ed Sheeran gets ultimate rebel send-off on second night in Cork
“Thanks for spending your Friday night with me,” he told Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Ed Sheeran knows how to set a high standard. After dazzling the Cork crowd on his first night in the ‘Real Capital’ one day earlier, he took to the stage at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Friday night and dressed to impress.
Wearing a long-sleeved black tee with ‘CORK’ emblazoned in multi colours on the front and back, the flame-haired flamethrower burst into song, opening the gig with ‘Tides’ from his fifth album, =, before bursting into a technicolour, pyrotechnical display, much to the delight of fans.
“Are you in a Friday mood?” he asked before telling a delighted venue he planned to “play as many songs from the records that we can fit in.” Cue many cheers.
Speaking about his origins as a performer, Sheeran paid tribute to his original Irish inspiration.
“I started wanting to be a singer songwriter when I saw Damien Rice when I was really young in Dublin,” he told the crowd, explaining how the Kildare-born singer-songwriter started him on his path to success.
The 31-year-old father of one thrilled the audience with some of his many hits, including ‘Don’t’, ‘Shivers’, ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘A Team’ - “a song that opened every door for me.”
Launching into ‘Castle On The Hill’, Sheeran said he had high hopes for an energetic response after Thursday’s atmosphere in the Rebel County put Dublin to shame.
“It is Friday night in Cork. Last night’s crowd was rowdier than Saturday night in Dublin, I want to see what Friday night’s is capable of. Are we going to get rowdy?” The crowd went wild in response, leaving no doubt: a weekend concert in Cork is on another level.
“Thanks for spending your Friday night with me,” he told a Páirc Uí Chaoimh audience that included Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
"Really great show from Ed Sheeran tonight in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Great to be back at a gig," the Taoiseach tweeted after the concert.
Sheeran confided in the crowd that while he has a set list, he tweaks it and always tries to add more, anything he thinks an audience wants to hear.
To the opening chords of ‘Dive’ he said “I didn’t play this yesterday [Thursday] and I don’t think I’ve played it in three years.” Despite the time, he was not rusty.
It wasn’t all upbeat tunes, though. A heartfelt ‘Visiting Hours’ was supported by a torch-lit scene as attendees in the stands and on the pitch used their phones’ lights to add a poignant panorama.
Opening the show earlier was Limerick star Denise Chaila, who ensured the enthusiastic crowd started the night on their feet and with their hands in the air, performing songs like ‘Anseo’ and ‘Copper Bullet’.
“I came here to play with you, not just play for you,” she told the early birds, adding she felt her dreams were “coming true” in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
She also thanked the headline act for his support for her. “Ed has been there since the beginning.” English singer Maisie Peters, too, was full of praise for the venue, saying she was “so happy to be here, it’s such a dream to play on this stage”.
Sheeran will continue the Irish leg of his Mathematics tour in Munster next week, playing Limerick’s Thomond Park on Thursday and Friday, before moving up to Belfast on May 12 and 13.
And if Cork is anything to go by and Sheeran continues to calculate a cracking concert, they’re in for another rowdy night to remember.
