Ed Sheeran review: Global star makes surprise entrance to 55,000 strong crowd of adoring Perth fans

Ed Sheeran proved why he is one of the most talented and authentic live acts out there after returning to Australia with a set list that took fans on an emotional rollercoaster.

The 34-year-old music sensation kicked off the Aussie leg of his Loop Tour at Optus Stadium on Saturday night to a crowd of more than 55,000 adoring fans.

The famous red-head tricked his fans eagerly anticipating his arrival by appearing on a second stage hidden among the crowd about 8pm — a moving bridge emerged to get him back to an epic main stage.

Sheeran launched his set by bursting into his hit 2011 song You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.

Sheeran kept singing as he crossed the bridge to a stage that featured a huge LED screen displaying incredible graphics matching the topics of his songs.

“Perth, how you feeling tonight,” he greeted his screaming audience.

“It’s so good to be back in Australia, thanks so much for coming down.”

He added how much he missed Perth and picked our city as the first stop Down Under because of how “nuts” his fans react and how they turn out “en masse”.

Sheeran then launched into one of his newer tracks, Sapphire, which had the crowd yelling out the chorus with colourful pyrotechnics shooting into the sky.

Having a loose pedal on his live loop machine didn’t stop the star and while it was fixed he told the story of the tune that kicked off his career at the age of 18, love song A Team.

Other hits to feature in his first act included Castle on a Hill, Shivers and Don’t.

Sheeran then took the crowd on an emotional rollercoaster, playing some of his most vulnerable songs about love, heartbreak and loss — the “extremities” as he called it.

He had the entire stadium in the palm of his hand as he belted out a range of his discography from the early 2000s to his eighth album Play, released last year.

The UK superstar professed his love for performing in Australia, and Perth gave all the love back, dancing and singing to some of his iconic love songs like Thinking Out Loud and Perfect.

Sheeran proved why he is one of the most talented and authentic live acts out there, with his loop machine ensuring no show is a copy and paste.

A touching part of the night included the moment he played several songs requested by fans earlier in the day through a QR code plastered on the big screen.

American Town was a popular song request, so Sheeran said he relearned it in his dressing room before the show and asked his fans “not to judge me” if he got the lyrics wrong.

He didn’t slip up at all, and the crowd was delighted to hear the throwback from 2023.

Sheeran didn’t just take his fans on a musical journey but a personal one — filling his set with references to his life, trying to make it as a successful musician in London at the age of 17, but getting turned away from every record label.

Instead, he began writing songs for other famous artists, and to give Perth a taste, he played a medley of some of the hits many people might not have known he wrote.

Some of the songs he mashed up included Eastside by Halsey, 2002 by Anne Marie, One Direction’s Little Things and Love Yourself by Justin Bieber.

To wrap up the whirlwind of an evening, the father-of-two ended with songs Afterglow, Shape of You, Azizam and Bad Habits.

Sheeran said he first visited Australia as a little boy and became obsessed with our country — on Saturday night, he fell in love all over again.

The supporting acts for his Aussie shows included all-female traditional Irish band BIIRD, Melbourne sing-songwriter Mia Wray who thanked the early evening crowd for hanging out in the 30 degree heat and Vance Joy who played all of his hit songs most people would have heard on radio including Riptide, Saturday Sun and Mess is Mine.

Sheeran is set to take to the stage again on Sunday night before heading over to Sydney on February 13.

The verdict

5 out of 5 stars

SET LIST

You Need Me, I Don’t Need You

Sapphire

Castle on the Hill

The A Team

Shivers

Don’t

Eyes Closed

Cold Coffee (song request)

Overpass Graffiti (song request)

American Town (song request)

Afire Love (song request)

Give Me Love

Galway Girl

Nancy Mulligan

I Don’t Care

Old Phone

Opening

Camera

Celestial

Photograph

Medley of Eastside, 2002, Cold Water, Little Things and Love Yourself

Thinking Out Loud

Perfect

I See Fire

Bloodstream

Afterglow

Shape of You

Azizam

Bad Habits