When I was a kid, I really enjoyed camping. When I was in high school, I organized camping activities for children. I still remember teaching them the basic knots for camping. Back then, our camping tent looked like this:
Last week, I attended a music festival in Germany called Southside. After more than 10 years, I set up a tent at this festival. Tents now are so convenient that I didn’t need any basic knots to tie. Everything is closely connected. Despite that, we had many trial-and-error moments because it was our first time building this tent.
Two men, who traveled all the way from Dresden in the North to Neuhausen ob Eck in the South to enjoy this music festival, saw us struggling with the tent and made a comment: “We saw you guys really energetic and spent a lot of energy building this tent. Is it the first time you’ve gone to a festival? 😂” It was true; this was our first festival, but was it that obvious to our neighbors how amateur we were? 😂
There were lots of bands and singers at the Southside Festival, and my friends asked me which ones I wanted to see. My answer was, “Ed Sheeran.” They asked, “And?” I replied, “There is no ‘and’. My expectation for the whole concert is to see Ed Sheeran perform. You know, I am so clear about what I want 😂”
If you asked me about the festival, I’d say, “What an experience!” Or to summarize, it was a “Muddy Party” because it rained heavily most of the time. Another noticeable thing was the Dixi toilets.
Generally, I go to bed really early (and wake up early). Ed Sheeran’s performance was at 11 pm, but I was so excited to see him that I stood and waited for hours (though I still didn’t get the best spot near the stage). There were fans crazier than I am. Compared to other performances I’ve seen, what I like about Ed Sheeran’s performance is:
While other singers have a whole band with drums, guitars, keyboards, etc., Ed Sheeran is a one-man show. He just needs three microphones, various guitars, a keyboard, and his loop station.
Ed Sheeran wore a hoodie with “Southside” on it. In the middle of the performance, when it got hot, he took off the hoodie, revealing a Southside T-shirt underneath. I find him very humble, simple, and empathetic.
Maybe you know all his hits like “Thinking Out Loud,” “Bad Habits,” or “Shape of You,” but did you know that he has rap songs as well?
