On an overcast night in Sydney, the red headed wonder Ed Sheeran brought nothing but sunny times, party tracks and love songs to the Accor Stadium crowd as part of his Loop world tour. Support for the night came in the form of Aaron Rowe, Mia Wray and Vance Joy. While admittedly only catching the literal last notes of Rowe, there was enough in those 20 seconds that makes me think you should definitely get down early to see him open up each show.
Next up was Queensland legend Mia Wray performing a selection of tracks from her 2025 album hi, it’s nice to meet me, as well as her current single, the euphoric “When We Were Young”. The absolute set stand out was her magic and incredibly sad “Monster Brain”. Every time I see it performed, it gets better. With a sneaky throwback to “Stay Awake” thrown in for good measure, 2026 looks to be an even bigger year for Wray than last year.
Main support came in the form of everyone’s favourite ukulele toting, former VFL player, Vance Joy. With a tidy 45 minute set that spanned his entire back catalogue, Vance Joy threw in a bit of everything from “Mess Is Mine”, “Saturday Sun”, “Lay It On Me”, “Riptide” and a surprise cover of the KISS classic “I Was Made For Loving You”. Noting consistently how grateful and momentous it was to be opening for Ed Sheeran, you got the sense that Vance Joy truly lives for these stadium sized shows.
Playing everything live and on loop, Sheeran made it known throughout his near three-hour set that everything you heard while he was on stage was recorded that night, would be deleted after the show and never heard again. In an era of AI slop entering all facets of life including the arts, it was refreshing to see an artist of this scale not rely on any type of artificial support; especially considering for the most part he played solo.
With a set that spanned all six of his studio albums, the show had just about everything for all fans, from those seeing him for the first time, to those who’ve been on the Sheeran train since 2011’s + release. Opening up with “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” on the smaller B-stage located in the crowd, the set had a steady flow throughout its run, bouncing between stages, eras, collabs and fan requests. Challenging the Friday night Sydney crowd to be better and louder than the Perth crowd last weekend, the 70,000 fans in attendance did their best to break sound records and deliver a perfect backing track to the magic Sheeran was delivering on stage.
Early highlights came in the form of “Castle on the Hill”, “The A Team” and the fan requested “Tenerife Sea”, before Sheeran welcomed frequent collaborators Beoga on stage for a string of tracks including “Galway Girl” and “Old Phone”, with Sheeran taking a moment to touch on the history of “Old Phone” and his ability to live life without a mobile phone (must be nice). Ending this section of the show with the sentimental “Photograph” was a nice touch.
Throwing in a melody of songs he wrote for others including Halsey’s “Eastside” and Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself”, Sheeran moved into “Thinking Out Loud” and “Perfect” as he noted how special it was to know songs he wrote now soundtracked so many people’s lives, especially their engagements and weddings. Despite his long career, record sales and the scale of his shows, Sheeran honestly comes across as a normal guy who still can’t believe this is his life. And to be frank, it’s blood lovely to see.
With an encore of “Shape of You”, “Azizam” and “Bad Habits”, Sheeran ended the show wearing his Loop sponsored Ipswich Town FC jersey, his local club he now partly owns. This reinforced the feeling that despite now having more than enough zeroes in his bank account, he’s still just a guy in touch with his roots. With a light show and fire works aplenty throughout the entirety of the show, Ed Sheeran delivered everything he possibly could for those in attendance. With two more Sydney shows to go and the remainder of the country to follow, if he delivers even half the show he did here, everyone will go home more than happy.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Ed Sheeran continues his Australian tour over the coming weeks. For more information, head here.
Reviewer attended Accor Stadium on 13.02.26
Photos by Bruce Baker. You can see more photos from the night HERE.
