Review: Ed Sheeran @ Adelaide Oval 05/03/26
Teddy signed off his tour of Australia in autumnal Adelaide, delivering variations of ballads and bangers that enthralled a captivated crowd.
Words Brad Pine // Images John Goodridge
Ed Sheeran w/Vance Joy, Mia Wray and Aaron Rowe @ Adelaide Oval 05/03/26
The Loop Tour sees iconic English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran blessing Australian stadiums with a unique take on the idea of “loop”. As he mentioned at the beginning of his set, the performance was to utilise the loop station – allowing a performer to build layers one at a time, basically backing themselves rather than a band. This was the final night of his seventeen-date tour after spending a month or so in Australia and New Zealand.
This was the first-ever concert for my daughter, and she was in awe of the number of people filing into Adelaide Oval. The sun was directly in our faces until it set over the stands, ready for Ed’s set.
Spoiler alert: she loved the concert and actually cannot get to sleep as I write this.
On this tour, Ed has had three support acts, with Irish singer Aaron Rowe first up for the night. Mirroring the main act, it was just Aaron with a guitar playing to an ever-growing crowd. At the same time as this tour, he was playing his own solo gigs in support of his first EP, Exodus.
Already early in his career, you can hear the vocal presence needed to perform for a large crowd. I can see a lot in him, similar to the early days of Ed’s career.
Without any real warning, the booming sound of Mia Wray’s band hit our ears. Almost a year on since her debut album, hi, it’s nice to meet me, Mia already had a decent catalogue of songs to play for us, including ‘Tell Her’ and new single ‘When We Were Young.’
She took some time to reflect on her own career and let all those aspiring musicians in the crowd know that one day, they too, could be up on stage if they stay resilient. Her powerful vocals complemented her utter enjoyment of being on stage performing to a stadium filled with people.
The third and final support was Vance Joy, a name already familiar to the crowd. Starting with ‘Missing Piece,’ it was the first time we heard the crowd in full volume for a sing-along.
As much as ‘Riptide’ was the signature song for Vance (being 16 times platinum and an absolute mainstay on ARIA charts), this set of singles showed how deep his music really is.
New single ‘Divine Feelings’ and fan favourite ‘Fire And The Flood’ had the crowd moving. Vance brought out the ukulele but said, “It’s not that song”, and breezed into ‘Saturday Sun’ before a cover of KISS’s ‘I Was Made For Loving You.’
Of course, he played ‘Riptide’ and did not need to even sing with the crowd in full voice. Perfect warm-up for the night
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The gigantic screen was awash with pink particles flowing with the cassette loop logo centred as everything was in preparation for the main act. A montage at the beginning showed Ed’s early days of performing and explained the use of the loop station, which to me, is still mind-blowing for use on stadium tours, especially after seeing Metallica at the same venue last year.
Instead of being on the main stage, Ed started on a stage in the middle of the crowd with ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ before travelling back to the main stage on a retractable bridge.
“Lose your voice… All I’m saying is you have the chance to be the loudest crowd of the tour.” Ed gave us the instructions, and I feel that we all gave it our loudest and best. For ‘Sapphire,’ he demonstrated how his loop station was able to build the song from several layers he created live. Just brilliant. The song ignited fireworks – it would not be the only time we saw fireworks, either. ‘Castle On The Hill’ also showed off the incredible light display on offer, with people (including my daughter) out of their seats, jumping along with the incredible light display on the hill.
‘Shivers’ and ‘Don’t’ had Ed really working on the layers for the loop station. He explained that once the song was finished, the loop was deleted. As much as a purist might argue about the authenticity of the music, it became a unique variation each time. Only the Adelaide crowd heard these songs exactly like this.
Back to the middle stage for ‘Eyes Closed,’ he had the whole stadium singing as one. This led to a fan request for ‘Sing’ before a calmer moment with ‘I’m A Mess’ and ‘Visiting Hours.’ Ed showed his range of being able to go from ballads to bangers and back again within a few songs.
Irish folk band Beoga joined Ed on the stage for a mini set as his backing band. ‘Galway Girl’ and ‘Nancy Mulligan’ brought the Irish flair to Adelaide before shifting gears for the Justin Bieber duet ‘I Don’t Care’ – minus Justin, of course. Ed also talked to the crowd throughout the night about how songs came to fruition and even spoke on the court case that got him to write ‘Old Phone’ – “I’m glad I’m not a scum bag,” he jibed.
The cardio portion of the night was given to ‘Celestial’ as we were all instructed to jump during the chorus, no matter how old we were. He traversed back to the middle stage and reminisced about his beginnings at 17, trying to be a singer before leaning into songwriting more. A medley of his songwriting from other artists included Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’, which brought everyone together. Even more so with ‘Perfect’ - everyone singing back as porcelain figures crumbled and peeled away to a gold interior on the screens. Visuals were also incredible for the song ‘I See Fire’, with broken earth and fire invading the screen.
The final three songs of the main set highlighted the loop station again, especially with ‘Bloodstream,’ stripping the song down to basics, as well as some nicely timed flame throwers.
The wait for the encore was about 15 seconds as Ed made a quick costume change, putting on the pink Loop Tour football jersey. The major hits ‘Shape Of You,’ ‘Azizam’ (which was using the loop station brilliantly) and the visually creepy ‘Bad Habits’ ended the night and the 17-date tour for Teddy.
There should be no doubt that Ed Sheeran is an icon of modern music. Definitely the most successful loop musician. If you can sell out stadiums with a guitar and a loop station, you are doing something right. Even so, strip back all the gadgets and stadia, and you will see that Ed is a brilliant songwriter who knows how to interact with an audience on their level.
As my daughter finally falls asleep, I remember my first concert was John Farnham. An amazing night, but I think my daughter gets bragging rights after witnessing what was an incredible spectacle from Ed.
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
