For two hours the international pop superstar wowed a sold-out Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday night — and he absolutely killed it.
Shunning a large backing band, Sheeran opts for a stripped down stage presence; just him, his guitar and a loop pedal — the modern version of an unplugged gig.
If not for the huge video screen and the 46,999 other screaming concert-goers, you could have easily been at an open mic night down at the pub, which is really the secret to his huge success.
At times it can feel like Sheeran is only there for you. Yes, he rapped; no, it wasn’t great.
But he also played all his dreamy pop ballads, which have made him the biggest male pop star in the world.
Sheeran’s presence on stage and the atmosphere he creates can make even the most grumpy non-fan wave his arms and sing along. A highlight of the night was when he played his own version of Nina Simone’s Feeling Good which morphed seamlessly into his Hobbit theme song I See Fire, which almost sent the crowd into mass hysteria. Early in the night Sheeran told the crowd to sing, dance and go crazy.
"I hope you know the words; else it’s going to be a long two hours."
But the crowd did not need any encouragement, enthusiastically singing in unison as soon as the first chords of his first song of the night Castle on the Hill were strummed.
They never stopped.
It’s fair to say the multi-award-winning artist is not everyone’s cup of tea, but Sheeran is past trying to please everyone. At one stage he stopped and gave a shout-out to the 2% of the crowd, the boyfriends and the "super dads" dragged along by their girlfriends or children, who didn’t really want to be there.
Sheeran’s Dunedin fans are in for a night they will remember. And those boyfriends and dads who aren’t such big fans — they might just find they can’t help but raise their arms into the air and sing along. It’s Ed Sheeran, after all.
Tickets are still available to Sheeran’s three Dunedin shows.
