Ed Sheeran hits back at claims he didn't perform 'live'

From Digital Spy

Ed Sheeran may have spent his Sunday night headlining Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage and closing the festival with an incredible 90-minute acoustic set, but he spent his Monday morning schooling critics on how his live show actually works.

Last night's headline slot came six years after the singer first performed at the festival to "about 500 people", and he spent the majority of his time on stage performing alone with just an acoustic guitar and a loop pedal to back up his vocals and chords.

Unfortunately, it looks like some people mistook the loop pedal for a backing track, so Sheeran turned to Twitter to defend his performance.

"Never thought I'd have to explain it, but everything I do in my live show is live, it's a loop station, not a backing track," he wrote. "Please google."

He then quickly followed with: "Anyway, great night, great atmosphere, family, friends, fun. Love you all."

For those who don't fancy Googling, we've done it for you: a guitar loop pedal records passages played on an instrument and plays them back in a repeating loop, which can then be mixed and layered with other loops to create complex harmonies and rhythms.

So Ed wasn't performing with a backing track, he was creating all the music you heard as he went. Now it's even more impressive, right?

Seriously, just watch him build up 'Shape of You' during his performance and you'll never doubt he performs live again.

Ed's Glastonbury headline set on Sunday followed previous performances from Radiohead on Friday and the Foo Fighters on Saturday.

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