‘I watched man dressed as frog zip line crowd to Ed Sheeran – it was so metal’

Though you might not recognise the song by its title, your mind will be triggered by the repetitive ‘wake me up’ lyrics (not ‘before you go-go’, but ‘inside’).

Despite being at it for more than 20 years now, lead singer Amy Lee hasn’t lost her steely lung and throat capabilities.

She effortlessly reeled off the melancholy piano hits like ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, and quickly returned to head banging for bangers such as ‘Going Under’.

And all amidst the backdrop of 25 April Bridge, where audiences can soak up the views, the music and hover over them all at once.

That’s right, festival goers can literally zip-line across the cheering crowd and in front of their favourite acts – a concept us boozy Brits probably wouldn’t be able to master.

Although zip-lining is supposed to be something enjoyed at family holiday camps or a graffitied local park, Rock in Rio have managed to make the harness and helmet air-drag incredibly metal.

To close off their set, of course Amy and co belted out ‘Bring Me To Life’ which saw the crowd of iridescent bucket hats become one form, ricocheting their heads back and fourth in unison.

How incredibly metal.

But what is more metal is the man dressed a frog with his webbed feet dangling above the crowd as he zip-lined to Ed Sheeran.

The headliner for the second night needs no introduction, even on the global stage.

Ed Sheeran has become a house-hold name across the world and proved to be an absolute score for Rock in Rio, who host both Portuguese rock acts and more mainstream artists who have charted in every country.

His humble nature and pure talent was felt even to the back of the sell-out crowd of 80,000 fans who clapped and sung along to the sweaty, and once unassuming, red head.

And on the tenth anniversary of smash hit album X, Ed Sheeran truly proves just how much of a megastar he is.

From powering through his songs from his early beginnings such as ‘A Team’ and ‘Drunk’ and to showing off his writing capabilities with song penned for Justin Bieber ‘Love Yourself’ – the crowd gawped on at the master who is Mr Sheeran.

A master of his own show, without any gimmicks (apart from some punchy word-art esque graphics) – just him, his guitar and his loop pedal.

He finished the show with recent mega-charter ‘Bad Habits’ which shook the crowd out of their Sheeran-state trance to dance to end the night with a shower of fireworks that could put New Years Eve out of a job.

The lyrical enchanter has the power to do just that – make the crowd do nothing but feel the words and be in the moment.

Atmosphere wise, it felt different to the standard getting sloshed in a British field and jumping on one another. It’s evident that the Portuguese instead enjoy zip-lining and the true essence of the song.

And I guess that’s what festivals are about at the end of the day, the music.

Whether you want to enjoy music by reeling off a few lyrics, mosh pitting until the cows come home or zip lining over a sea of orange bucket hats dressed as a frog – Rock in Rio has something for everyone.

The likes of Doja Cat, Jonas Brothers and Ne-Yo will be taking the stage at Rock in Rio this weekend