Just a day after, my niece who is just 16, asked me if I wanted to see Ed Sheeran in concert. I enthusiastically answered "Oh yes! I'd love to... err, who the hell is Ed Sheeran, by the way?" and I abruptly realized I just asked one magical, stupid question and there's no way of taking it back! She then tried singing excerpts from "The A-Team," "Lego House," "Small Bump," in an attempt to make me realize I could've already heard his songs before. She was even very excited to tell me that there is a duet with Taylor Swift (of course, I know her) titled "Everything Has Changed" which is one of the most popular among his songs. My jaw muscles went flaccid. I surely haven't heard these songs before. Sadly, it just confirmed that I don't belong to the young generation anymore. I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole at that moment. When she added that Ed Sheeran will be joined by other artists like Andy Grammer, Colbie Caillat, Nico & Vinz, and Demi Lovato in the concert, I got relieved. Somehow I know some of them hoping they would sing songs that I know. Besides, all I want is to hang out like a millennial in a place I've never been to, anyway.
We left at around past 4 pm and went southeast through I-5 N and traveled for over an hour until we reached what seems to be Hollywood. I didn't ask where we were going and I was like Ok, surprise me because I like surprises! but on our way to the venue, I was guessing where we were headed. The ones that I know are Madison Square Garden, but that one is in NY; St. Augustine Amphitheater and Amway Center, I believe are in FL; and at that time, I can't think of any concert venues in CA. The heavy traffic in the area made me see a welcoming sign ahead that says "Welcome to Hollywood" which confirms that we are indeed back to Hollywood!
It's now 6:02 pm and we finally reached our destination. I almost fainted when I realized that I'm standing at the gates of Hollywood Bowl, one of the best concert venues in the country, and I didn't realize that ahead of time. I even had the bootleg version of the album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl but it completely slipped my mind.
At the entrance of Lot B where we were dropped off greeted us a sign that showed 104.3 MYFM My Big Night Out presents Ed Sheeran, Demi Lovato, Colbie Caillat, Andy Grammer which starts at 7:30 pm. We proceeded to the Odin path where a lot of early birds are already waiting for the gates to open. At the ticketing area, however, we were asked to surrender the bottled water that we brought as these are not allowable items at the concert seats. Since we still have a lot of time before the show starts, we decided to go to the Concessions in the Plaza to eat. I was a little surprised, however, that a plain hamburger and soda combo already costs $15, almost a price equivalent to a decent meal at a fine-dining restaurant in Manila.
At 6:32 pm, we followed the path to get to Promenade 5, which is at the topmost area of the Upper Box. From our position, you can see the entire 18,000 capacity venue with its half-dome shaped stage perfectly situated at the northeast against the backdrop of the hilly Los Angeles, peeking above them is the Hollywood Sign at Mt. Lee. The seats are wooden with enough room to stand, dance, and jump while singing along with the performer during the concert. I intentionally secured a position at the aisle so I can move there more freely in the middle of the performances but I was wrong about it because the security officers are very strict about staying within the seats. Yeah, I was warned twice.
The concert started at exactly 7:30 pm and it began with performances by Andy Grammer. I honestly don't know any of his songs and I must have not heard of them before but thanks to my iPhone app SoundHound, it was identifying the audio music telling me that he was singing some of his hit songs like Fine By Me, Honey I'm Good, Holding Out, Keep Your Head Up, Hold On and We're Going Home. He concluded his setlist by singing his latest single Back Home, which I remember hearing first on my flight to CA a few days ago. It then became my instant favorite.
Colbie Caillat came on stage next and the stage's atmosphere suddenly transformed into a more tropical landscape with a perfect mix of stage colors and spotlights. She also performed her hit singles Brighter Than the Sun, Live It Up, Blaze, If You Love Me, Let Me Go, and Never Gonna Let You Go. She wowed the audience when she sat on the piano and started playing while she sings Try. And on her finale, she made the crowd sing along with Bubbly, one of my favorite songs of her and her biggest hit, so far. I expected her to sing Lucky, somehow, with Andy Grammer coming out of the stage again after his break to duet with her, in lieu of Jason Mraz but I failed. It didn't happen.
It's almost 9 pm and before the next performer starts, I thought of relieving myself first so I went to find the nearest restroom. It wasn't hard to find because everyone else is going there so I felt like an ant following the colony to forage for food in the picnic ground. While I was in the queue to the men's room, I heard Nico & Vinz's Am I Wrong, being played on the loudspeakers, which I thought to be a track used only to keep away from dead air but as I walked back to my seat, I saw two performers on stage singing live. It was indeed Nico & Vinz singing the last few lines of their song. It's my favorite song yet I missed it!
Tons of stage crew suddenly emerged from backstage and transformed the stage into an overly elaborate and decorated hall. From a breezy environment to an ornate platform, that is really something. You know that something big is really coming. And truly big it is, it needed Mario Lopez to come out and introduce the next performer. Demi Lovato was really on fire and came on stage in a grand entrance with her hit single Heart Attack.
She had a long setlist and sang her new singles and mostly all her hits like Remember December, Fire Starter, The Middle, Really Don't Care, Nightingale, Two Pieces, Don't Forget, Got Dynamite, Neon Lights, Skyscraper, and Give Your Heart a Break. What was unforgettable on her performance that night was her inspirational speech about her failures in life but was able to stand up again to redeem herself. She then sang her powerful ballad Warrior which was rather a tearjerker than motivating. But probably, the most-awaited of all was her performance of the pop-version of Frozen's soundtrack Let It Go, which was featured in the film, and made the entire amphitheater stand on their feet to sing along with her.
It's almost 10:30 pm.
Man, it's the longest concert I have ever seen. I didn't imagine that each artist would spend 1 frickin' hour onstage while the night mountain breeze started creeping underneath my skin and I started shivering. Back in my country, it's very challenging for a performer to get the audience engaged in the entirety of the show. More often than not, the crowd will sing along with the artist only the first few lines, and the voices start to fade midway while their butts start kissin' their seats. You have to give Filipinos one-hell-of-a-show to get them to stay on their feet the entire time. This is the first crowd I've been with whose people don't get tired standing, hollering, shrieking, and singing for 5 hours. The night is full of contagious energy!
From an overly-packed stage and a fully-loaded ensemble, the half-dome was suddenly cleared like it was washed away with the tide. There was only one thing that stood there. A microphone. A f***in' microphone! I wondered how boring the last performer would be, with just a microphone to entertain 18,000 people who waited for 4 hours, clamoring and cheering and screaming his name. And my niece was shrieking!
At last, someone came out from backstage. People roared hoping it was Ed Sheeran. But it was Gavin DeGraw, who graced the show to welcome the next performer, who happens to be his friend, to Hollywood Bowl. A red-haired guy with a guitar hung on his shoulder, hit the stage, and pandemonium blasted from the young, crazy, and wild crowd.
He opened his segment with You Need Me, I Don't Need You, and my jaw dropped that everyone is on their feet singing and rapping along with him, yet it's my first time to hear the song. Wtf, where in this world have I been?!? He followed it up immediately with Lego House, Don't, Be My Husband, Kiss Me, Thinking Out Loud and I See Fire; and I found myself slowly swaying my shoulders, waving my arms, providing backing vocals for the songs' chorus part (oh yeah, Ed is so good at forcing the crowd to sing back up for him, lol) and bam! I turned myself into a teener who just escaped his sleeping folks to hang out in a live concert.
When Demi came out to join him on stage, the crowd expected them to sing Everything Has Changed, but they sang Give Me Love instead. After she exited the stage, Ed asked the crowd to get their phones ablaze and wave in the air while he sings The A Team, his multi-platinum first single, and it is truly a spine-chilling experience seeing all these people turning the entire Hollywood Bowl into a fiery arena. In the heat of the moment, he introduced his new single Sing and asked the crowd to sing backup for him. He divided the crowd into two and gave each side their singing part. He rehearsed the two groups and the crowd started chanting. Ed then performed the whole song giving cues when the crowd should sing their parts. While the crowd enjoys singing in unison, Ed disappeared from the stage. And the crowd continued singing not knowing when and if they should stop. It went on for the next 15 minutes until everyone realized that the concert is over. It was the coolest song finale that I've seen at a concert ever.
Ed Sheeran is the coolest performer I've known. Ever!
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