Stereoboard Tour of the Week - Ed Sheeran - Tickets Onsale Now
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Written by Rob Sleigh
Following in the footsteps of fellow solo artist Adele - whose record-breaking second album ‘21’ returned to the top of the chart at the weekend, exactly one year after its release – Yorkshire lad Ed Sheeran is well and truly making his mark on the UK Albums Chart with his hit-making debut, the curiously-titled ‘+’.
Despite a rather broad spectrum of mixed reviews, which have seen the album described as both “winsome” and “underwhelming”, the record-buying public spoke up once again and took ‘+’ to the kind of dizzying heights that few could have previously imagined. In the four-and-a-half months since its long-awaited launch last September, Sheeran’s first long-player has rarely veered too far from the top spot and has sold over 900,000 copies in the process. Alongside Adele, Bruno, Cee Lo, Rihanna, Gaga, Buble and J, Ed Sheeran almost managed to keep bands out of the official Top 10 albums of 2011 completely – with the one exception of Coldplay, just. This, of course, was in spite of the fact that ‘+’ was released only a few months ahead of the year’s end. Not bad going for a debut album from a new artist.
It’s hardly surprising then that today, the day that tickets went on sale for his latest and biggest UK tour to date, almost all of them were snapped up within a few hours. For all the desperate ticket-seekers, however, all is not lost quite yet. With a few tickets left and several more dates still to go onsale – and more to be announced? – plenty more chances remain on offer.
So, where did it all start going right for young Mr Sheeran? First of all, it was probably a few years ago, when he released his first EP ‘The Orange Room’ at the age of 14. This was followed by several more independent releases in addition to some relentless gigging as he slowly began to earn his stripes and gain more and more attention via the world wide web. He certainly wasn’t kidding when he sang: “I'm real/I do it all/it's all me/I'm not fake/don't ever call me lazy.”
Fast-forward six years to 2011 and the release of his final independent – and breakthrough - EP. Not to mention his first TV appearances, collaborations with Wiley and Wretch 32, numerous festival appearances, a record deal and a Top 10 single. It was at one of these aforementioned festival appearances – the Festival Republic Stage at Reading – that the speed of his rising star was suddenly realised. As thousands of festival goers crammed themselves into the small tent for a glimpse of this up-and-coming artist – who, incidentally, was yet to release an album at the time – it was clear that it wouldn’t be the last we’d hear of him.
How right we all were. Less than half a year later and just a few weeks into the new year, Ed Sheeran has already scored what is bound to be one of the biggest-selling tours of 2012. As we approach the big, early festival announcements, it’s almost certain that the young artist will be making his way out of the small tents and up among the Main Stage headliners of at least one of this summer’s outdoor events.
Oct 13th - London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 14th - London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 15th – London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 16th – London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 17th – London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo
Oct 19th - Brighton Centre
Oct 20th - Newport, Newport Centre
Oct 21st - Bournemouth, BIC, Windsor Hall
Oct 22nd - Plymouth, Pavillion Oct 24th - Swindon, Oasis Leisure Centre Oct 26th - Reading, Rivermead
Oct 28th - Birmingham, Ballroom
Oct 29th – Birmingham, Ballroom
Oct 31st - Nottingham, Nottingham Arena
Nov 1st - Manchester, Apollo
Nov 2nd - Manchester, Apollo
Nov 3rd – Manchester, Apollo
Nov 5th - Doncaster, Doncaster Dome
Nov 6th - Doncaster, Doncaster Dome
Nov 7th - Hull, Hull Arena
Nov 8th - Blackpool, Empress Ballroom
Nov 10th - Newcastle, City Hall
Nov 11th – Newcastle, City Hall
Nov 12th - Edinburgh, Usher Hall
Nov 14th - Glasgow, Barrowlands
Nov 15th - Glasgow, Barrowlands
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