A music teacher who cut short a holiday in Spain and flew back to the UK on a delayed flight with just two hours of sleep says duetting with Ed Sheeran was “honestly unbelievable.”
Lianne Kaye, 30, from Chelmsford, Essex, was contacted weeks ago by a manufacturer organising the gig to ask if she would perform . She had no idea the global superstar would be joining her until the day before.
“I was sat in the airport and my flight was delayed. My best friend sent a screenshot to our group chat and it was Ed; he put on his stories he was going to be in Ipswich and she was like, ‘I don’t think you’re going to be on your own.’ That’s when the penny dropped,” Kaye told BBC Look East .
Chaos, exhaustion and a dream come true
Kaye had flown to Malaga on Tuesday and returned on Thursday, battling a delayed flight and severe sleep deprivation. “The flight was delayed — of course it was — so it was all a bit chaotic, but I wasn’t going to miss it for the world,” she said .
On the morning of June 5, hundreds of fans gathered at Ipswich Waterfront near the University of Suffolk after Sheeran teased the surprise gig on Instagram the night before with a simple message: “Ipswich! 9am tomorrow at the waterfront, see you there x” .
Sheeran, who had just returned from nine months in the United States, treated the crowd to a six-song acoustic set including ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘Shivers’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Perfect’ and ‘Shape of You’ .
‘Like jamming with a mate’
Kaye opened the event before joining Sheeran for a duet of his breakthrough hit ‘The A Team’ . “It hasn‘t sunk in at all,” she said .
Despite the surreal circumstances, she said the experience felt natural. “I love what I do, so I’m just really, really lucky I‘m able to teach and do music all the time and share my songs and my passion,” she said .
The organisers said they wanted to “champion upcoming songwriters and artists” . Kaye, originally from Holbrook near Ipswich, has previously performed on BBC Introducing Suffolk and opened for Sir Tom Jones at Colchester Castle Park last year.
‘Sorry to the kids missing school’
Sheeran, who began his career busking in Ipswich and playing to tiny pub audiences across Suffolk, joked with the crowd: “Thank you to the kids that are missing school today… apologies to the parents but thanks for bringing them along — this is fun. I heard some people are doing GCSEs today. Sorry, I wasn‘t aware of that” .
The singer also delighted nine-year-old fan Felix, who had brought his own guitar, by giving him a new amplifier. “He just said, ‘Here you are,’ and he tapped me on the shoulder,” Felix recalled .
Sheeran ended the set by saying: “I hope you have a fabulous summer and I‘m looking forward to the Premier League next season” .
The pop-up gig, organised as part of a promotion for an amplifier manufacturer, offered fans a rare opportunity to see one of the world‘s biggest music stars perform in an intimate hometown setting — and gave one determined teacher a memory she will never forget.
