Around 30 minutes into his set, Ed Sheeran told the crowd at the Stadium of Light "I'm hoping no one goes home disappointed". It was fair to say that by the time thousands headed for the Metro, you were hard pushed to find anyone upset with the night they'd had.
Sheeran with his many guitars entertained the crowd for over two hours reeling off countless hits - hitting the spot with nearly every single tune he picked. His reference to leaving people disappointed came in as he politely warned people that he wouldn’t be able to play all of his hits. And with 47 songs to have charted in the Top 40 at some stage, it’s understandable that time constraints would stop him from performing all of them!
With that note, the crowd cheered - just as they had done when the 10 minute counter flash up on screen and as he opened with Tides from his latest album. It was followed up by Blow - the song Sheeran recorded with Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars - and as he brought it to close, flames fired up from the stage and coloured smoke from above.
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The already jubilant crowd ramped up a level. Sheeran was very clear in his aim for the night, ‘my job,’ he told the crowd, ‘is to play as many songs as possible that you recognise’, and with the cheers ringing loudly he burst into Forever My Love and that was met with huge applause.
Sheeran was keen to interact with those who had come and several times shared his gratitude for those who had done. He explained the workings of his loop step - and how every version of the song played was unique as it was made up of the audio recorded at that moment. That seemed to endear him to the crowd even more who if they didn’t realise already were in the presence of musical royalty.
Shivers was up next before A-Team as Sheeran encouraged the crowd to light up the terraces with their phones. They obliged, and it was a sight to behold. But you always felt that Sheeran and, the crowd to that, were just getting started.
He grabbed the mic, and urged everyone to get the ‘stadium jumping.’ He revealed his favourite gig of his 2018 tour was the one up the road at St James’ Park because the "North East crowd can get rowdy".
That Tyne-Wear rivalry always adds a bit of spic to proceedings and those filling the Stadium of Light were not to be outdone. As the cheers went up, Sheeran set away Castle on the Hill, and the place took off. He was granted his request - "Yes, Sunderland! I like it," he said with a punch in the air. That set the bar. The emotion behind that song mixed with the crowd stepping up to the challenge of the star took the night in a very special direction.
Sing with a mix of Dr Dre’s No Diggity was next - and the crowd, including some of the stewards, were now swaying. Give Me Love followed, and as Sheeran separated the crowd into two to sing a part, you got a real sense of how he just loves working off them.
They were told they were the ‘loudest’ to sing that. Graffiti and then Galloway Girl soon followed - and looking around there wasn’t a still foot in the house, and Sheeran with 45 minutes left told the crowd "we’re getting the songs that real singalongs. You’ve got tomorrow off, so you can lose your voice!"
It was another challenge laid down to the 60,000 spectators - Sheeran urging them to be "loud and not in tune". They took on that challenge and rose to it again.
Thinking Out Loud was sung by every member of the crowd - with the phone torches out again, it was a stunning moment to take in. Sheeran then went on to perform a song he had written but not released - Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself -and it was arguably one of the most sung of the night.
The party was now well and truly underway, and looking at Sheeran’s expression - he was loving every moment of it and would have stayed up on the stage all night if possible. His promise of ‘sing alongs’ rang true with Photography, Perfect, and Bloodstream among others all following.
He then rounded off with Afterglow - and the screens came down. Everyone knew that an encore was to follow and within seconds Sheeran was back singing his 2017 hit, Shape of You. It got everyone moving and singing, and was quickly followed by Bad Habits.
That, in my view, should have wrapped up nicely - a solid nine out of 10 sort of night, but then Sheeran promised one more song. You Need Me - I Don’t Need You, was the choice and it felt a little of a strange one. It’s a popular song of Sheeran’s with an undoubted addictive chorus but as a sing-along - it’s not quite that of the two that went prior.
That said, Sheeran’s vocals and performance of it were fantastic - and diehard fans would have loved it, he certainly did. Fireworks lit up the Wearside sky and applause wrapped around the Stadium of Light.
If Sheeran was genuine in his worry he might ‘disappoint’ people - he didn’t need to. It was a superb return back to the North East - and not a bad crowd to warm yourself up for Sunday’s gig in front of the Queen.
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