Ed Sheeran/ Kal Lavelle
The Borderline, London
16/05/2011

A rude-boy, an indie-boy and a city-boy walk into a bar. Part rubbish joke, part the true make-up of Ed Sheeran’s sold-out show tonight. The 20-year-old’s acoustic tongue-twisted Brit-hip-hop-soul has charmed both an awkwardly mixed fanbase and some key bad-menz of the UK rap scene; collaborations with Devlin, Wiley and T4 token ‘yoot’ (and worrying Nandos pervert) Example has seen the ginger lad rise from intriguing internet up-and-comer to somebody that must now live up to their own hype.

First up though is pixie-cropped baggy-jumpered Kal Lavelle. She’s Irish but she lives in London now. She moved here with her boyfriend. Didn’t work out. Lavelle’s warm pitch-perfect vocals see her Celtic roots clearly present – a compelling USP when applied to ballads like ‘Disaster’. A strong start but after three London street references (Upper Street, Charlotte Street and Church Street) and more boyfriend back-story she shifts from charmingly heart-on-her-sleeve to a little bit laboured. Saved by excellent banter (inadvertently encouraging siblings to get it on) and the odd hook from the likes of ‘Shivers’ and ‘The Ocean’, Lavelle will be a hit with indie-boys and girls and the shareholders of Brick Lane retro stores.

Treading the line between confidence and cockiness, Sheeran opens with some off-mic Aretha-style belting – a well executed power play that risks appearing self-indulgent if overdone. Similarly the ‘shushing’, whilst effective in quieting his excitable crowd, is potentially alienating. Not tonight though. The hits that cemented his loyal online fanbase, ‘You Need Me’, ‘Little Bird’ and acapella Jamie Woon cover ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ are unavoidably infectious and single ‘A Team’ is complimented expertly by outstandingly beardy Hackney-based guest-rapper Mikill Pane. On the strength of this performance Sheeran is well on his way to becoming a star, bigger venues beckon.

Joshua Finesilver