Ed Sheeran — Magic Radio Live, 2017

A live concert by Ed Sheeran filmed for British station Magic Radio in a very small room (“tiny venue”), during the “÷ (Divide)” album era, in 2017. Alone with his guitar and trusty loop station, the English singer delivers a full show representative of his solo-performance craft: he builds the instrumentation of his songs live, layer by layer, from percussion tapped on the guitar body to sampled backing vocals. The set strings together his biggest hits — “Castle on the Hill,” “Don’t,” a “The A Team / Drunk / Hearts Don’t Break Around Here” medley, “Bloodstream,” “Happier,” “Perfect,” “Photograph” and “Shape of You” — sweeping across several albums and the full palette of a songwriting that spans folk, pop and hip-hop influences. The intimate, tightly framed capture highlights the looping virtuosity that built Sheeran’s live reputation, able to fill stadiums with only a voice, a guitar and a pedalboard. A filmed concert ideal for grasping the live mechanics of one of the most popular pop artists of the 2010s.