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 breaks own Melbourne record
The superstar singer-songwriter played to more than 200,000 fans over two nights at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia
By James Hanley on 06 Mar 2023
image © Zakary Walters
Ed Sheeran has broken his own attendance record at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) by playing to more than 100,000 fans on consecutive nights.
The superstar singer-songwriter performed to a 107,000-strong crowd last Thursday (2 March), topping that 24 hours later when he attracted a 109,500-strong crowd to Friday’s Frontier Touring-presented show. Eminem previously pulled in more than 80,000 punters at the venue in 2019.
“Ed loves to break a record and he’s smashed this one,” says Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski, who describes the feat as “phenomenal”.
Earlier in the week, Sheeran paid tribute to his former Australian promoter, Gudinski’s father, Michael Gudinski, after visiting the statue of the late Mushroom Group founder outside Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena.
The largest concert ever held in Australia was a free admission show by The Seekers in 1967, which had an estimated 200,000 in attendance
“Toasting a 707 to the big man ahead of playing the biggest ticketed shows ever in Australian history this weekend,” wrote Sheeran on Instagram. “We miss you, you finally got me playing MCG in the round.”
According to Noise11, the largest concert ever held in Australia was a free admission show by The Seekers at Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne in 1967, which had an estimated 200,000 in attendance.
Sheeran’s opening night at MCG suffered a technical hitch, however, with some fans initially unable to access their tickets after buying them through Ticketek.
“Ticketek apologises to those fans who experienced a delay in entering the MCG for Ed Sheeran’s concert,” a spokesperson tells the Daily Mail. “A small number of Ticketek App users, who had valid tickets, were unable to retrieve their entry barcode until the issue was resolved.
“We thank fans for their patience whilst Ticketek enabled a solution, which saw all fans admitted prior to the start of the concert.”
Last month, Sheeran also smashed the attendance record at New Zealand’s Sky Stadium, with 48,000 fans flocking to the singer’s sold-out concert, again outselling the previous record-holder Eminem, who attracted 46,474 fans to his March 2019 date.
The Australia/New Zealand leg of the 32-year-old’s +–=÷× Tour (AKA the Mathematics Tour) wraps up this month with nights at Adelaide Oval (7 March) and Perth’s Optus Stadium (12 March).
Last week, Sheeran – who is represented by Marty Diamond of Wasserman Music in North America and Jon Ollier of One Fiinix Live for the rest of the world – announced a slate of European indoor shows in support of his upcoming fifth studio album, − (Subtract), out 5 May. He will visit Manchester’s AO Arena (23 March), The O2 in London (24-25 March), Glasgow’s OVO Hydro (28 March), 3Arena Dublin (30 March) and Accor Arena, Paris (2 April).
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