Ed Sheeran: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
11,637,658
Published 2021-10-26
Bobby Carter | October 26, 2021
Decked in a hoodie, cargo pants and coveted sneakers, a slimmed-down and clean-shaven Ed Sheeran stands surrounded by bookshelves and a host of world-class musicians. He’s flanked by music director to the stars, Adam Blackstone, who assembled the band and handled bass guitar duties. After opening this Tiny Desk (home) concert with his latest single, “Shivers,” Sheeran introduces himself and proceeds with more hits, new tunes, and a surprise throwback.
The English singer-songwriter may appear acclimated to a live band, but it’s a pretty rare occasion. For more than a decade, Sheeran’s become revered for ripping down stadiums, but usually (and remarkably) it’s just him, a guitar and loop pedals.
The material released so far from his upcoming album, = (out Oct. 29), leans heavily into the ’80s pop sphere and provides glimpses into Sheeran’s personal life during his time away. Here, he debuts “Overpass Graffiti,” an uptempo ode to the endurance of long love. “Visiting Hours” is a heartfelt dedication to his close friend and mentor, Australian record executive Michael Gudinski, who passed away in March.
Although most of the setlist honors =, Sheeran veers momentarily to take us to church with 2014’s “Make It Rain” from the TV show Sons of Anarchy. The choir only takes up a smidgen of physical real estate, but their voices manage to engulf the entire space, propelling the song to another stratosphere. He closes the performance with a quiet storm version of his summer single “Bad Habits.”
SET LIST
* “Shivers”
* “Make It Rain”
* “Overpass Graffiti”
* “Visiting Hours”
* “Bad Habits”
MUSICIANS
* Adam Blackstone: musical director/bass
* Terence Vaughn: keys
* Tim Stewart: guitar
* Clay Sears: guitar
* Brian Frasier-Moore: drums
* Rayfield Holloman: pedal steel guitar
* Whitney Smith: vocals
* Raphael Smith: vocals
* Melissa Best: vocals
* Antia Coach: vocals
* Melany Watson: vocals
* Kyron Elcock: vocals
* Raymond Mason: trombone
* Michael Leonhart: trumpet
* Sam Greenfield: saxophone
CREDITS
* Video: Chadrick Fellers, Jeremy Ivory-Chambers, Porous Porousfreak
* Audio: Tyrell Ace Clark, James Hardy-Martin, Douglas Touré Harris
TINY DESK TEAM
* Producer: Bobby Carter
* Video Producer: Kara Frame
* Audio Mastering: Josh Rogosin
* Tiny Production Team: Bob Boilen, Bobby Carter, Maia Stern, Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis
* Executive Producer: Keith Jenkins
* Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann
#tinydesk #nprmusic #edsheeran
All Comments (21)
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Ed during “make it rain” is just 🔥🔥🔥🔥
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Oh my god, what a performance. "Make it rain" is my jam.
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the back-up vocals in "Make it Rain" are absolutely unbelievable. Overall, I can't even tell you a single moment that was anything less than phenomenal.
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Ed killed it as usual, but why is no one talking about the BAND? They absolutely KILLED that!!
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Those background vocalists in "Make it rain" gave me constant shivers. Best part of this whole performance.
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What a brilliant performance Ed!! Credits to the background singers on make it rain, that was an incredible performance
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What I love of tiny desk is that you can appreciate the actual talent of the artists without big show lights and dancers etc. This is an enormous display of talent.
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After Make it Rain he nonchalantly says ‘Well that was fun’ That was fun? THAT WAS FUN???!!?! No Ed! That’s was NOT fun, that was earth shatteringly incredible!!!!! That was DEEPLY soulful!!!! That was life confirming and extremely POWERFUL!!!!! The back up singers put so much into it that it moved me like no other I’ve heard in a very long time!
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Jeez he slays "Make It Rain". The rasp he hits invades and vibrates the soul. Nice.
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OK EDWARD!!!! MAKE IT RAIN!
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Can we also appreciate Adam Blackstone and the band? That was a bass delicacy: from the acoustic to the electric, and from the double bass back to the acoustic. What a jam!
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This bass player has some serious groove. Great performance by all!
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That's the most British Tiny Desk set I have ever seen
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we need a Tiny Desk to every Ed Sheeran's album! just give us a full concert to each album, please! LOL <3
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6 - 9 musicians, 2 vocals; live. That don’t work together regularly. Ultimate respect to the band members Amazing execution 😳
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literally the only artists whose voice is the same live as in studio version, his vocals are flawless
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I'm still amazed after all these years, how he changes his voice in Make It Rain and how stable he sounds. Never gonna stop falling in love with his art.
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That acoustic bass and sweet sounding snare on Overpass Graffiti gets me every time.
