Continuing the phenomenon of one man and an acoustic guitar wowing stadium crowds, Ed Sheeran has set a new attendance record for nib Stadium in Perth, playing to 32,000 fans on 3 December. The concert was set to the same stage configuration, facing across the pitch, as used by the…
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Ed Sheeran announces Australia & NZ stadium tour
The singer, who dedicated his track Visiting Hours to late Frontier Touring founder Michael Gudinski, will visit in early 2023
By James Hanley on 16 Mar 2022
Ed Sheeran is returning to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in five years after announcing the latest leg of his + – = ÷ x (Mathematics) stadium tour.
Sheeran, who dedicated his track Visiting Hours to late Frontier Touring founder Michael Gudinski, will visit in early 2023, stopping off first in New Zealand for dates at Sky Stadium in Wellington (2 February) and Eden Park, Auckland (10 February).
The trek will then switch to Australia for nights at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (17 February), Accor Stadium, Sydney (24 February), MCG Melbourne (2 March), the Oval in Adelaide (7 March) and Optus Stadium in Perth (12 March).
The announcement comes on the heels of Foo Fighters becoming the first major international music act to travel to Australia since the pandemic began. The US rock band performed a one-off concert at the GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, Victoria on 4 March to launch Always Live, an initiative envisioned by Gudinski to revitalise Victoria’s live music scene.
Sheeran sold more than one million tickets for his last tour of the region
Further gigs under the Always Live banner have since been announced including Nick Cave & Warren Ellis at Hanging Rock (25-26 November), Isaiah Firebrace at Girgarre Sound Shell, Echuca (4 December) and Tash Sultana at Ocean Sounds festival in Churchill Island (10 December).
Sheeran sold more than one million tickets for his last tour of the region in 2018, which formed part of his record-breaking ÷ (Divide) run from 2017-19. The global tour surpassed U2’s 360° as the highest-grossing ever, with a gross of US$776.2 million. It also set a new record for total attendance, at 8,796,567, according to Pollstar data.
The singer, who is represented by One Fiinix Live agent Jon Ollier outside North America, returns to the stage later this month, for a run of UK warm-up shows, playing intimate venues such as London’s 1,100-cap Electric Ballroom and the 600-cap Concorde 2 in Brighton. The Mathematics stadium tour will then kick off in Ireland at Dublin’s Croke Park on 23 April.
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