Only in New York would happy hour bar patrons shrug off an offer of a free round from one of the world’s most popular entertainers. But there Ed Sheeran was this week when he hit a string of bars as part of a pub crawl to celebrate the release of his new album, Autumn Variations.
Sheeran posted a video early Friday morning (Sept. 29) in which he set off on a crawl, buying rounds of drinks at a series of bars to honor his second album of new material this year, the follow-up to May’s – (Subtract) collection. The clip opens with Sheeran behind the bar pouring out endless shots of vodka while a bell clangs in the background at a crowded establishment.
“Right, to celebrate my album release I’m gonna pub crawl, go in random bars and drinks are on me for the next six hours… let’s… GO!” Sheeran said explaining the night’s plan. It got off to a somewhat slow start, however, as the first stop found Sheeran standing at the bar alone, seemingly unnoticed, with just a few patrons realizing they were in the presence of pop royalty.
“We’re in the first bar, I’m on the first drink,” Sheeran tells the camera. “I have got everyone a drink in the bar… but we’re not there yet,” he lamented, shaking his head at the sight of a mostly empty room with no sign of shrieking Sheerios. To be fair, Ed said in a confessional aside, the crawl started at happy hour when people were just getting off work, so he promised, “we are going to the f–king place where people wanna go for it!”
And so, Sheeran hopped on the subway, bro’d down with a guy during the ride and then cut to a much more raucous scene of him playing beer pong and setting up yet another galaxy of shots on a bar. With just 90 minutes left in their run, Ed headed to Greenwich Village’s Off the Wagon, where yet more shots were lined up and the excitement level seemed to finally match Sheeran’s.
“We’re done for the night… we started out, the place… they weren’t feeling it,” Sheeran summarized of his bleary night out. “The next place? Weren’t feeling it either. We got on the subway, and then… here we are. I’m very drunk right now. Very drunk.”
Sheeran released Autumn Variations on his own Gingerbread Man Records on Friday, a collection he said in a statement was inspired by a difficult time he went through last year, during which he wrote songs to help him — and his friends — understand their feelings, from falling in love to “new friendships, heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion.”
In another celebration of the meditative Aaron Dessner-produced album of mostly acoustic pop ballads, Sheeran also announced that his team found an emoji for every hand-drawn icon on the album’s cover, from empty roads to comfort food, money troubles, moments of sadness, old fisherman’s huts and dreams of spring.
Watch Sheeran’s pub crawl and check out the emoji below.
Autumn Variations out now! 🍻🍻#AutumnVariations #AutumnIsComing
👉 https://t.co/CITysnkfX1 pic.twitter.com/WGDk6EFLIp— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) September 29, 2023
In case you're wondering, yes, we found an emoji for every icon on the artwork. Kind of.
Changing trees 🌳
Days getting shorter ⏰
Comfort food 🥫
Good news 💍
Warm fires 🔥
Back to school 🎒
Overthinking 🧠
Empty roads ⚠️
Heartbreak ❤️🩹
Falling leaves 🍂
Pumpkins & squash 🎃…— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) September 28, 2023
