Ed Sheeran’s Divide World Tour

The week leading up to seeing Ed Sheeran perform his Divide World Tour at Little Caesars Arena, I was pumped, but as the day approached, I grew nervous.  This was my first official trip to LCA with the community sneak peek event my only other stop there when it was decidedly less crowded.

My anxious brain began wondering if traffic would be heavy, what security would be like, if the arena would be clean and safe and prime for having fun.

As I experienced the evening, all my fears were assuaged.  Dad found the perfect route to the arena, security was present everywhere, lines were practically non-existent, save for the merchandise stands, and the new arena is pretty much literally a joy from start to finish, top to bottom, with plenty of people around to answer questions.

Because of the lack of traffic issues, we walked around the arena for the better part of an hour, exploring concessions and restaurants and looking at all the statues and interactive displays.  It really is a fantastic arena that I encourage everyone to check out if you have the chance.  I also encourage you to buy a parking pass so that isn’t a problem, particularly on nights when there is more than one event, and that is most nights these days.

Time went quickly and before long, we took the elevator down to our seats on the floor, where again, security was ever present with Detroit police even in the arena.  Cleaning crews were also everywhere.  They are clearly determined to keep the arena looking great as they should be.

Ed opened the show with the soon to be iconic chords of “Castle on the Hill.”  It was something to watch him build the song, and many more after it.  Ed is literally a one-man band.  One of his crew members joined him on piano during “How Would You Feel (Paean),” but other than that is was just him.

While this certainly makes the show different from any other I have seen and a lesser performer would fail miserably, Ed somehow makes this work to his advantage.  His affable personality, talent, and moving song lyrics kept me interested the whole time.  I rather enjoyed the giant screen behind him that made up the stage and was the only real glitz and glamour to the production.

At just about 95 minutes long, the show never really had a dull moment with hit after hit that all of us in the crowd seemed to know just about every word to.  Some of my favorite moments were when Ed talked to the crowd.  He told us he had the next day off and he wanted us all to lose our voices together (I definitely succeeded).  He said we’d never see any of these people again and he wanted us to let go and have a great time.  He even said he wanted us to make up lyrics if we didn’t know the words.  Just let loose, sing, dance, and have fun.

If you didn’t catch on by now, Ed seems like one of the real, genuine good guys, and that makes the concert that much better.

Back to the music, I missed “Lego House,” but from “The A-Team” to “Don’t” and “Galway Girl” to “Photograph,” most of the hits were there and even better live.  It’s really something to hear Ed on the rap tinged verses of some songs.  “Sing” rounded out the main set before Ed came back out dressed in a Red Wings jersey to sing “Shape of You” and “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.”  I think reversing the order would have been better as the latter dragged on a bit and didn’t end the show quite as strongly as it could have.

Still, I don’t think I’m the only one that left the show worn out with no voice and sore feet.  It was a delightful night that made me a bigger Ed Sheeran fan and super excited for my next trip to Little Caesars Arena.