Learner Dad: Bringing your kids to a concert is one of Middle-Aged Dad's greatest challenges

Now I’m suggesting Ed Sheeran for the car-trip playlist. This is mainly down to my son.

He’s the one who pointed out that a lot of songs on the radio involve a girl giving out to a boy. In fairness, most of them seem to follow the same pattern. The girl really doesn’t like the way he only calls her after a few drinks. And she’s definitely seen the photos of him with her best friend.

I can sympathise with her – we’ve all been there at one time or another. But every time you turn on the radio these days, it feels like it’s either a girl with the hump or else it’s Dermot Kennedy.

This is why we spend a lot of time listening to Ed Sheeran on Spotify when we’re driving in the car.

I’ve nothing against Dermot Kennedy, he’s got a good few catchy tunes to shorten the road. In fact, he was the C hosen One a few months back, until the kids moved on, the way kids do.

Our son loves Ed Sheeran because Ed doesn’t give out, and my son doesn’t like giving out. My daughter loves the melodies and singing along in the car. And so do I. There comes a time when you grow out of music snobbery and salute a good tune when you hear one. It’s not like Ed Sheeran’s lyrics reveal some long-hidden truth about the human condition. But he knows how to take a simple song and turn it into a sing-along story. That’s enough for me, at my age.

Ed is playing a Cork gig in Pairc Ui Chaoimh this April. I realise that bringing your kids to a big-venue pop concert is one of the greatest challenges known to Middle-Aged Dad. I’ve read all the parenting articles on this one and it’s clear that I’d need sensible shoes and a pair of noise-cancelling earphones. Mainly so that I can block out my kids asking me to buy them a T-shirt for 35 quid. Or whatever they charge at these things, I haven’t been at a gig in ages.

My money-brain is still back in the 1990s, when a ticket to a concert cost 40 quid. The cheapest ticket for Ed Sheeran is €81. That’s so you can stand in the pitch area, listening to a nine-year-old complaining that her legs are sore from standing. And I’ll be saying the same to her. So we will probably be looking at a seat in the stand, starting at €90 a pop.

Just to be clear, if anyone is going to see Ed Sheeran, it will be my daughter and I. My wife is happy to sit this one out. My son would want to leave after half an hour. Yes, he likes singing along to his favourite Ed Sheeran song, ' Bad Habits'  in the back of the car (so do I – it’s a blast listening to one of your kids belting out a song.)  But he’s also like I was at his age – mildly obsessive and cranky if things don’t go his way.   All he’ll want to hear is  'Bad Habits'. If it doesn’t happen straight away, he’ll want to leave. So he can stay at home playing Roblox.

The more I think about it, I’d love to bring my daughter. I still remember going to see acts like Bruce Springsteen, Underworld, The Stone Roses, REM, The Smiths – t here is nothing like feeling the noise at a big gig. I want to be there when she gets to experience it for the first time. I’ll probably sing along.