Forget stadium binoculars and nosebleed seats — some 500 people lucky enough to score access into Sirius XM’s exclusive concert by Ed Sheeran on Monday night under a tent at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett were so close to the pop star they could see the sweat glistening on his neck while he performed a solo set that included almost every hit since his first single, “The A Team,” debuted on American radio stations in late 2012.
Fans who didn’t win their wristband right from Sirius XM in the days leading up to the show began forming a “hopefuls” line on the sidewalk in Amagansett starting in the late morning on Monday. Worth it? Absolutely, said Natalie Allouche of Dix Hills, who queued up around noon and somehow managed to walk away at the end of the night with Mr. Sheeran’s actual set list from the stage.
She’d seen him perform before in a much bigger setting but favors “intimate” venues like the Talkhouse for exactly the kind of experience she had Monday night.
“The show was absolutely phenomenal,” said Ms. Allouche. “Stadium shows have way more people. This was the best.”
Mr. Sheeran, the Irish singer-songwriter who made messy red hair cooler than frosted boy-band tips as he ascended the charts over the last decade, told the crowd that this was his third time visiting the Hamptons, but by far the best one, and that he’d gotten his start in the music business by playing at bars just like the Talkhouse. In between songs he offered snippets of insight into his songwriting process, making the show a personal one.
The performance resonated deeply with Nancy Atlas of Montauk, who is musical royalty here herself. “I think Ed Sheeran is amazing. I think, as a fellow performer, what he does live is untouchable, and so it’s really a rare gem and a treat to have him come here tonight and play for us and show us,” Ms. Atlas said. “As someone that’s a very low part of the totem pole as a live performer, I go to festivals to soak up and just appreciate craftsmanship, and I think he’s an undeniable talent. It doesn’t matter how famous he is, he’s an undeniable talent as a songwriter, but he’s also an undeniable talent as a performer . . . to have that combination of the two, how fun for us.”
Mr. Sheeran made use of a looping machine to sing and play back his own backup vocals, keyboard lines, and percussion beats on the face of his guitar. Are acoustic guitars meant to be played that hard, with that much heart? Apparently, if you’re Ed Sheeran playing the Stephen Talkhouse, the answer is yes.
Not only was the show a celebration of Sirius XM’s launch of the Ed Sheeran Channel — which is available through Monday on the SXM app and Channel 104 — but it was also a benefit show for the organization USA Warrior Stories. The show will air on Wednesday at 3, 6, and 9 p.m. Eastern time with additional replays throughout the next week.
The open bar and free sweatshirts and concert posters were the cherries atop a show that made everyone there feel like celebrities alongside the mega-famous faces who showed up, including Sir Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Howard Stern, Jerry Seinfeld, Christie Brinkley, Billy Joel, John Mayer, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields, Michael J. Fox, David Portnoy, Andy Cohen, Anjelica Huston, and others.
The question of the day was, “How’d you get your wristband?” The considerable number of coy responses suggested that “I know someone” often went unsaid.
But at the end of the night, going by fans’ responses to the show, it was clear Mr. Sheeran had delivered an unforgettable experience.
“He gave such great intros to some of the songs, like ‘Eyes Closed.’ It’s one of the songs I’ve been listening to a lot, but maybe I never even really knew what it was about until he gave a little intro,” said Samantha Klein of Montauk. “And at the end, when he started moving all the microphones ‘cause he was like ‘I need a dance stage up here,’ that was great.”
The show was Liam Beckert’s first-ever concert experience. The Amagansett teenager, who attended the show with his mother, Christa Beckert, said it was a fun experience. “I liked all of the songs,” he said. “This was amazing. . . . You can’t top this.”
Billy Quigley of Amagansett, who met Mr. Sheeran several years back at an acoustic bar gig during Art Basel in Miami, before he was super famous, painted a portrait of the singer that has gotten a lot of attention and was later acquired by Mr. Sheeran.
“Seeing him perform live was pretty special,” Mr. Quigley said, “and I think the Talkhouse is pretty special.”
