MUMBAI: Ed Sheeran gave Mumbai a show it would not forget for a long time. But before he could even land in the city, weather threatened to play spoil sport. Unexpected rain and cloudy skies left many ticket holders wondering whether or not the show would happen. Fortunately, it seemed like the rain gods heard the prayers of hundreds of Ed Sheeran fans by the time the gates opened.

Fans lined up outside the gate much before it could open, but once it did, almost everyone headed straight for the space in front of the stage. True School of Music’s DJ Uri opened the show to an excited crowd that grooved and moved to his music. Despite taking their places early in the evening, concert goers kept their energy up right till the end of the night. It helped that there were plenty of options for food and drink available at the venue. But most of those present, were there for one reason only- Ed Sheeran.

By the time the sky started to turn dark, the crowd knew it was getting closer to Sheeran taking the stage. You know that saying, “There’s a calm before a storm.” That’s exactly what happened. For a few minutes when the lights were turned down, a silence fell over the crowd. As silhouettes moved around on stage, you could hear hushed whispers of “Can you see him?” or “Is that him?” Before long, the main act of the night was announced, and the BRIT winner walked out to a roaring welcome. Dressed in a blue kurta and waving an Indian flag which he wrapped around his mic stand, the ginger haired singer opened his set with ‘I’m a Mess’, after which he went on to play some of his most popular hits like ‘Lego House’, ‘Don’t’ and ‘Photograph’.

Mumbai

A photo posted by @teddysphotos on Mar 1, 2015 at 8:07am PST

Throughout his hour and a half, one-man band performance, Grammy nominee enthralled the crowd, playing on a loop, switching guitars and mics. An already star-struck crowd went particularly berserk when the singer-songwriter started rapping ‘Take It Back’. A puppet master at his best, he had the crowd swaying, clapping and even singing along to his music. Not that he really needed to ask. The crowd willingly sang along to his hits ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘The A Team’, ‘Drunk’ and ‘I See Fire’. In fact, the sing-along was perhaps one of the night’s best highlights; something that took even Sheeran by surprise. “I’m amazed that you’ll know the words to my songs,” he said, with genuine bemusement on his face.

Sheeran gave the crowd a little throw-back when he broke into a verse of 50 Cent’s ‘In da Club’, during a medley of ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’. He even slipped in a chorus of Iggy Azalea’s ‘Fancy’, which the crowd gladly joined him on, since not many could keep up with him on the rap verses. But like all good things must come to an end, so did his debut performance in Mumbai. Sheeran closed the night with ‘Sing’, and asked his faithful to go out singing the song, which we assume many did, considering its catchy tune. He thanked Mumbai and the crowd for being so warm and welcoming, calling it “one of the best nights of his ‘X’ tour”. Yes, Ed, it certainly was one of the best nights, especially for hundreds of your Indian fans whom you entertained so well. Let's just hope he comes back to the country, which he said he would "like to" do (promoters, take note).