STACK #149 Mar 2017

MUSIC FEATURE

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THE

Ahead of the release of Ed Sheeran's hugely anticipated third album ÷ (divide) , we get a special insight into the singer-songwriter's rise courtesy of Tony Harlow, the music executive behind the talent. Words Zoë Radas E d Sheeran’s very first public gig in Australia was held under the kind of glaring silver sky that makes you squint up to see where the purple crowd was kids in school uniforms, so we couldn’t cancel… It became a race against time, and [Ed] sang ‘F–k the rain’ until the first drops fell, then everyone ran for cover – or stayed singing and got soaked.” eager faces peeking over shoulders right back to the wrought iron fencing, and Ed Sheeran in a bright red Duffer of St. George shirt – possibly the most deliberate

clash with his hair you could imagine – encouraging his rapt audience to cuss out the rain along with him, in between acoustic performances of Lego House , Gimme Love , The A Team and more.

thunderclouds are going to crawl from. “We were outside on Circular Quay, and as Ed played we could see the southerly coming in, and so could he,” says Tony Harlow. “We knew we had something because the whole

There’s footage of those moments from 2011 preserved on YouTube: Channel [V]’s cameras rolling as people squash as close to the Guerilla Gig carpet as they can get,

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