Ed Sheeran makes a 50,000-person Toronto stadium feel surprisingly intimate | REVIEW

Ed Sheeran does not talk too much. He’s been told he does, but shrugs it off with, “I like talking.” He did so last night (Aug. 20) before just about every song that he played at the first of three sold-out Rogers Centre shows in Toronto.

But it’s what makes him charming, interesting, and able to engage 50,000 people in a stadium for nearly three hours. That is not easy, and it’s particularly mind-blowing that it’s one guy, standing 5-foot-8, with his trademark “wee” Lowden or Little Martin acoustic guitars, and a load of personality.

And then there’s the pyro — the impossible dream of every musician, let alone a former busker.

Oh, there is one other thing: the thing his entire live career is based on, from which The LOOP Tour gets its name: the loop station, a magical pedalboard that allows the UK singer-songwriter to record a beat, a vocal, a riff, then loop, layer and play back a track on the spot, as if he’s playing with a full band.

About a decade ago, after his Glastonbury set, Sheeran was accused of singing to a backing track, which led to him explaining to the masses what he does and how he does it. Everything you hear is live. So, in case anyone missed the memo, as he kicked off the 29-song set last night, there on the massive screen behind him is said loop station and a pre-recording (the only one in the show. Ha) of how he creates the songs we all know and love live in realtime.

For this reason, no two shows are ever the same. And neither are his stories between the songs.

Moving between the main stage and a smaller B-stage, linked by a retractable metal bridge, The LOOP Tour is as much a demonstration of his artistry as it is a concert. It really might not seem like a big deal. He’s the 35-year-old married father, hailing from a small town in Suffolk, who doggedly pursued a career in music in his teens, busking, playing pubs — eventually looping, likely out of necessity to boost the density of his songs because it was easier to play anywhere without a band or just cheaper.

He recalled playing Toronto at a charity event before he had written his launch single, “The A Team,” or had a record deal. He made it clear he loves Canada, praising our national parks, spent time recording in studio where he enjoyed our restaurants. Later, for the encore, he wore a Toronto Blue Jays jersey. 

He also talked about grief and denial after losing his best friend Jamal Edwards in 2022 (“Visiting Hours”), told an amusing light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel story about the eight-year copyright infringement lawsuit (he won) for which he had to turn over his old devices and, in doing so, found a text argument with an ex-girlfriend (“Old Phone”), declaring all these years later “she had a point;” as well as how and why he came to write a song about a dead chicken (“Little Bird”). 

We don’t need to go into all his stories. It’s just to show that without them, perhaps this unlikely superstar would not be able to play stadiums. It does take more than great songs — of which there are many.

And he took selections more or less evenly from across his catalogue. From + (Plus), the album that introduced him to the world, he played “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” “The A Team,” and “Give Me Love.” × (Multiply) supplied “Don’t,” “Photograph,” “Thinking Out Loud,” “I’m a Mess” and “Bloodstream,” while ÷ (Divide) was equally well represented with “Castle on the Hill,” “Galway Girl,” “Nancy Mulligan,” “Perfect” and “Shape of You.”

There was one from No.6 Collaborations Project, “I Don’t Care,” his hit with Justin Bieber, and four from *= (Equals): “Shivers,” “Visiting Hours,” “Afterglow” and “Bad Habits.” − (Subtract) contributed “Eyes Closed” and “Boat,” and from his latest Play album: “Opening,” “Sapphire,” “Old Phone,” “Camera” and “Azizam.” 

Three of those songs were Toronto fan requests: “Boat,” “Little Bird” and “Visiting Hours.”

There were also songs outside his studio albums, including “Celestial,” his collaboration for Pokémon, and “I See Fire,” written for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He also played a medley of songs he’s co-written for other artists, including Major Lazer’s “Cold Water,” One Direction’s “Little Things” and Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.”

The entire evening wasn’t all solo. He brought out the Irish folk group Beoga for a segment, performing “Galway Girl,” “Nancy Mulligan,” “I Don’t Care,” “Opening,” “Old Phone” and “Camera” with them. After each number, he recommended everyone there go see Beoga at the Rivoli on Sunday night (note: the historic Queen Street venue holds about 200 people).

At one point in the night, Sheeran recalled playing a very early gig where every act that went on after him was better than him. He realized his songs weren’t good enough and that’s why he was receiving so many rejections (one manager told him to stop messaging and another industry person told him he’d never be on a cover of a magazine). He used it as a wakeup call to keep working on his craft, thinking perhaps he’d never be a recording or touring artist but would write for other people, and passed along that message to young people in the audience to just keep at it. 

Sheeran’s humility is striking considering just how successful he has become. Here’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world, standing in front of a stadium full of people making it feel like he’s in your living room or on the street busking, except he now has pyro.