On the first of two almost sold-out concert evenings in Vienna’s Happel Stadium, Great Britain’s mega pop star Ed Sheeran delighted around 65,000 fans with an opulent stage, numerous world hits, lots of humor and burning hot volleys of fire. A gala performance of the biggest format star these days. Tonight there will be a lookup with remaining tickets at the box office!
Minutes before the start of the concert, the wave repeatedly goes through the oval of the Happel Stadium and the atmosphere is at boiling point before the hero of the evening even enters the stage. After months on his brilliant European tour, Ed Sheeran is finally making a stop in Vienna. Around 130,000 tickets were sold for the two top concerts – but at least on day one there were still some larger gaps in the standing room. On the other hand, it’s also nice not having to wait ages for your drink, as is usually the case. In contrast to Sheeran’s first Happel double strike in 2018, no stone was left unturned. In the style of international greats such as U2, Metallica or Muse, the smart Brit is trying his hand at this time on a 360-degree stage in the middle of the stadium, which also plays all the tunes.Between bombast and intimacySix huge video screens in the form of guitar picks, also six with Pillars equipped with screens and a video screen covering the stage make the visual spectacle perfect. In addition to that, already during the second song “Blow” he lets fireworks burst into the cool Viennese night sky. A clear announcement against the criticism that arose before the pandemic that the solo entertainer with its relatively unspectacular setting cannot carry stadium concerts. Now the balancing act between bombast and intimacy succeeds: by being centered in the middle of the location, he gets even closer to his fans than before, he uses the constantly rotating stage to not only put on an evening workout on the floor, but with as much as possible to get up close and personal with many fans around him. The mixture of eruptive pop hits and laid-back moments pulls Sheeran congruently through his set and thus ensures emotional shifts again and again. Shortly after “I’m A Mess” he patiently explains the system of his loop station and why everything is recorded live, even if it doesn’t always sound like it. The haunting “Shivers” is accompanied by a broken mirror optics on the lush screen and to “The A Team”, Sheeran’s big breakthrough song, which he wrote at the tender age of 18, the entire stadium and its approximately 65,000 people are transformed into a bright sea of lights . “It’s my job to entertain you for two hours now,” he sets the course for the evening and doesn’t let go of it for a second. In contrast to the last tour four years ago, Sheeran also has a band with him this time, but he prefers to hide the musicians on the light columns instead of bringing them onto the stage as equals. Right down to the smallest corner When he takes the motley goings on in his own hands takes, it still works best. An impressive “Castle On The Hill” leads into the hip-hop-heavy “2step” before shortly afterwards he mimes the fiber flatterer again on “Give Me Love” and lets himself be enlightened again from the audience area. With the easygoing confidence of a truly great pop star, the artist leads through his set, whipping his songs almost too hard. Sheeran only starts to interact with the audience relatively late, for a long time the evening is carried out according to the principle “let the music do the talking” and supported by the impressive stage. The mood among those in attendance is consistently boiling, and not a second goes by when fans don’t delve into the smallest nooks and crannies of Sheeran’s lyrical output with lyrical confidence. Add to this this mainstream-ready eclecticism: 80s references in “Overpass Graffiti”, a violin in the hit “Galway Girl”, big feelings and a sing-along guarantee during “Thinking Out Loud”. The Brit has the right song in store for every mood and emotional state and inspires a completely heterogeneous audience. Young girls at their first concert, fathers who, after initial basic skepticism, can’t resist swaying along and entire generations of families who collectively let themselves be moved by Sheeran’s wholesome, but still not simple format sound. If a glitch happens, like the lyric hanger in “Love Yourself”, it doesn’t detract from the natural authenticity of the interpreter. He once gave away the song to Justin Bieber carelessly and illuminated, he lets know with a grin. Of course, it’s easy to laugh when you’ve written so many chart breakers yourself that giving away a world number doesn’t even have a significant impact on your own oeuvre. In “Perfect” he even gives a rare glimpse into his happy family life, but slowly prepares everyone for the fact that even the best evening must come to an end so many people cheered this dress on as has probably never been the case in football. “Shape Of You”, “Bad Habits”, which is strongly based on Bronski Beat, and “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”, which is accompanied by a brilliant final fireworks display, conclude a two-hour instructional performance in the field of pop shows. Although the opulent stage design is breathtaking, it often seems a bit overloaded due to the Briton’s many quiet and thoughtful songs. Musically, however, Ed manages like no other to mix all the trends of the present with an unmistakable feeling for hits and a likeable buddy attitude, so that despite the cockiness you always feel like a puzzle piece of the entire spectacle. Today, September 2nd, Sheeran continues again. And the best news: there will still be a few tickets at the box office.
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