English pop sensation, Ed Sheeran, recently came back to Australia as part of his Loop World Tour. Performing a total of seventeen shows across Australia and New Zealand throughout February, Ed Sheeran performed a total of three completely sold out shows in Brisbane, a city he’s adored for years and compares the performances to the likes of a hometown show. Supporting the release of his latest album ‘PLAY’, Ed performed a three hour total set filled with a satisfying combination of deep cuts and hits we’ve heard on the radio dozens of times over the years.
7:30pm came around fast as excited fans waited in anticipation for Ed to jump out and appear on the main stage. As the crowd watched the stage intently, Ed had snuck around the back through the soundbooth and appeared on a smaller, circular-shaped stage in the middle of the stadium. Before the crowd could react, Ed jumped up onto the platform and started the night off with ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ from his 2011 debut album titled ‘+’.
The crowd, packed with 60,000 people, roared deafeningly as the opening chords reverberated over the sound system. Ed rotated between the three microphone stands on the stage throughout the track to individually face each part of the audience. Halfway through the track, a bridge expanded out from the main stage and landed on Ed’s platform, which was evidently his cue to grab the microphone and walk over the heads of his audience directly onto the main stage. As the song came to an end, he immediately jumped straight into song two, a fan-favourite single from his latest album titled ‘Sapphire’. As he built up the song piece by piece using nothing but his loop pedal to build up his guitar and vocal tracks, the tension rose and the audience screamed louder with every layer he added.
Throughout the rest of his set on the main stage, Ed played multiple songs from his mathmatics album series, including ‘Castle On A Hill’, ‘Don’t’, and his infamous breakout hit ‘The A Team’. Throughout the first half of the show, I couldn’t help but admire the simple yet complex nature of his earlier tracks. The lyrics were simplistic, rhythmic and rap-based, yet the way the words flow with such passion and tenacity, combined with his catchy guitar hooks, makes him truly stand out as a singer, songwriter, and performer.
Ed then crossed the bridge and ended up back to the B-stage to play a compilation of fan-voted songs. This segment makes every night of his performances unique compared to the last as every person in the audience had control over which songs were voted in. The chosen songs were explosively emotional, one of which was a song that he wrote back in 2023 titled ‘Eyes Closed’, which was written in memory of his close friend who passed away. In a full circle moment from the singer, he performed the song on the anniversary of his friend’s passing, which in Sheeran’s words felt extremely surreal. A song from his album ‘÷’ titled ‘Supermarket Flowers’ was also voted in, a song that the singer wrote about the passing of his grandmother, but written from the point of view of Ed’s own mother. There were definitely more than a handful of tears shed during that part of the show, with Ed saying that as sad as the songs are, he gains a lot of happiness from knowing how much his grief has helped others get through their own personal life losses.
Other highlights from the three-hour-long performance include when Ed brought Irish-folk band, Beoga, to play their two extremely well-known collaborative tracks ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Nancy Mulligan’, both of which lean heavily into the folk genre. After the two songs were done, the band continued to play another handful of songs from ‘I Don’t Care’ to ‘Old Phone’ before he made his way back over to the centre platform. While on the platform, he took notice of a fan with a sign asking him to do her baby’s gender reveal live on stage. Ed happily obliged and took the envelope, shredded it open, and revealed a piece of blue paper with ‘IT’S A BOY’ written in bold letters. Ed them dedicated the next song, ‘Perfect’, to the happy couple. Another couple close to the stage also seemed to get engaged during the chorus of ‘Thinking Out Loud’, showcasing how wholesome the Ed Sheeran fanbase truly is.
Ed Sheeran’s first night in Brisbane was electrifying and intense, while also having some stripped-back, slow moments woven in between the chaotic visuals and stage setup. Ed’s expression of love and admiration for Brisbane (or as he likes to call it, ‘BrisVegas’), comparing it to the likes of performing a hometown show, made every person in attendance feel seen and like they were being wrapped in a warm hug by the singer, even in a sold out stadium. If there was anythiung to take away from his performance, its that Australians LOVE Ed Sheeran, and we cannot wait for him to grace our shores with his presence again, hopefully with another album under his belt!
