Ed Sheeran's First Night in Whelan's

He was the boy who stood out in the crowd at the front of the stage that Saturday afternoon, in September 2004.

The rainbow-coloured entrance tickets officially proclaimed the Damien Rice show as an ‘All adults must be accompanied by an U18’ event, at Whelan’s of Wexford Street. An exception to the rule, the ‘child’ that got me in that day, and stationed beside the stage, was a two-year old called Chance – my professional digital camera.

Surrounded primarily by willowy teenage girls in the front row, thirteen-year old Edward, with his vivid yellow t-shirt topped by a speckled-with-freckles face and conspicuous orange hair, immediately caught my eye. Fidgety but attentive, his wide eyes reflected the stage lights, while also revealing his internal excitement, as he listened for the first time to one of his favourite musicians performing live. With his unconcealed youthful curiosity, Edward gave the impression of being a human sponge. Or that was the way I saw it at the time. I didn’t know until later that I had been right all along.

Inspirational Influence

Edward’s accompanying adult that day was his greatest inspiration as a child – his father, John Sheeran. John had noted already that his son showed little interest in school, but was drawn to music – and so had started taking him to concerts.

In May 2004 his dad took him to see Eric Clapton – the musician who two years previously had inspired a then eleven-year old Edward to take up the guitar. Four months later, at this gig in Dublin, Damien Rice became the third leg in the tripod of inspiration, which would become the foundation of something truly extraordinary.

Edward’s attendance at that Whelan’s gig is often referred to as his turning point, or musical epiphany. Noting that Damien could hold the audience enraptured with just his guitar and voice, Edward realised that he wanted to do the same thing – and that he did not need a band to become a musician and songwriter.

After the gig, Damien met and spoke with Edward. That meeting and conversation, in the front bar after the gig that day, effectively solidified the Celbridge singer-songwriter’s inspirational influence on the boy. Edward stayed up to write his first six songs after arriving back in England that same evening.

Unfaltering Work Ethic

Within five months of being inspired at the Damien Rice gig, Edward had recorded his first songs, with a home unit received as a Christmas present, and had launched his personal musician’s webpage at edsheeran.com. Edward had transitioned into the musician Ed Sheeran, effectively setting his course in life. He had not yet reached his 14th birthday.

Chance, both the camera with that name, and the opportunity I intuited, had an effect on my day at that Damien Rice gig back in 2004. I photographed Edward in the front bar after the gig. The resulting first image I created that afternoon is a visual reflection of inspiration in the glowing face of a curious young man.

However, inspiration is nothing without perspiration. As it transpired, the human sponge I saw in the front row at Whelan’s was more a Miracle Mop in the making. In the intervening years, Ed has combined his talent and passion for music with an unfaltering work ethic. His natural curiosity has kept him experimenting with his songwriting, and ensured that he continues to learn about, and adapt to, the fluctuations of the modern music industry with a level of ingenuity and success that is itself inspiring.

Now the most popular male musician in the world, whose songs have reached into the hearts and minds of so many, the boy who once stood out in the crowd at the front of the stage in Whelans will soon stand out on a stage in front of crowds totaling close to half a million people, in Ireland alone, when he performs nine dates here during the month of May. On an island with a population of just over six million people, that is an extraordinary, record-breaking achievement. Long may it continue.