By Donya Vandersteen and Averi Halbert
Ed Sheeran. Ginger. Eddy. Ed. Sheeranator. All nicknames that have continuously flowed through our conversations. What started as a joke with us sending a picture to each other every time we heard one of his songs, ended up with us watching him perform his “Mathematics Tour” live at Levi’s stadium, and absolutely loving every second of it.
The concert was quite the experience, especially our adventure getting home, however we don’t regret a single second spent in that stadium. We arrived three and a half hours early, took our seats under the blazing hot sun in section 405, and waited eagerly for Ed Sheeran to light up the stage. We sat impatiently, taking pictures and watching the sunset to pass the time. Finally, the sun had set and the countdown started. Only one more minute until we got to see our beloved Ed. Our hearts beat faster with every second. 5…4…3…2…1… and there he rose from the center of the 360 view stage with 80,000 eyes watching intently and 80,000 voices screaming at the top of their lungs. Colorful lights flashed rhythmically along with his opening song, “Tides”, and the crowd went absolutely wild. As the concert continued we did everything we possibly could to savor the moment, including taking hundreds of pictures and videos.
Before every song, Ed gave a brief story explaining either the reason he made it or the process of making it, which made the concert and his songs even more meaningful. He played more populars songs as the night progressed such as “Castle on the Hill” and “Perfect”. Which were some of the most memorable songs of the night due to the magical experience of hearing everyone’s voice blend together as they sung along. The song we had waited so long to hear, “Photograph”, was the epitome of a picture perfect experience. With flashlights swaying back and forth to the sound of Ed’s beautiful voice along with everyone else’s, it was truly surreal.
As the concert came to an end, people quickly started rushing out in attempt to beat traffic, however, we were determined to stay and listen to every single song. Once the concert had officially ended we said goodbye from afar and left the stadium. Our original plan was to Uber home but with the tripled prices we decided to figure out another option. After a long discussion, we realized taking the light rail was the only way to get home. To our luck, the station we were at was closed. We walked another half mile against the flow of the busy crowd to the other station, snuck our way into the line, and finally got on the light rail and headed home. Despite the few obstacles and extremely hoarse voices from all of the screaming, it was completely worth it. We have absolutely no regrets and are so glad we got to witness our favorite ginger sing live.