Ed Sheeran delivers for the crowd at Eden Park on Friday night. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Ed Sheeran delivers for the crowd at Eden Park on Friday night. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The legendary Ed Sheeran has officially left the country following three epic gigs in Auckland and Wellington.
The 31-year-old pop star has been in New Zealand for the past three weeks, holidaying in between his massive shows and even fitting in some surprise performances at Kiwi schools
But before he left what he declared on Saturday night to be his “second home” he had one final parting gift for Kiwi fans.
Taking to Instagram late last night, the Perfect singer posted a video on Instagram that addressed the moment he found out his sound system failed on Friday night.
Captioning the post, “Fancy schmancy Auckland shawarma wrap up with a little bit of drama pizzazz”, the video starts with Sheeran being told by a crew member that he would have to perform acoustically as the “looper” failed. A looper is an electronic device that creates instant recordings of a musical performance and plays those recordings back in real-time, something Sheeran is well known for using during his concerts.
Sheeran speaks to the crew member and confirms, “We’re not gonna get the looper back? Right?” But instead of panicking, he took the complication in his stride and delivered an epic show.
The video also included screenshots of reviews of the Friday night concert, including the Herald’s.
The crowd at Ed Sheeran at Eden Park stadium in Auckland on Friday. Photo / Alex Robertson
Circling the wording in the Herald’s headline that called the concert a “stunning show”, regardless of the looper fault, the video also showed Sheeran directly addressing what took place.
“Last night we had some technical difficulties. We fixed everything, we’re gonna come back with a bang.”
And he delivered on his promise on Saturday night’s second Eden Park show, despite impending Cyclone Gabrielle. Performing through showers of rain, the star admitted some of his best shows had been in wet weather and Saturday’s may have become another to add to that list.
He asked the audience earlier, “Will you dance in the rain with me tonight?”
Following his post, fans were quick to comment on the video telling the star how much they loved his Friday night acoustic performance and began praising him for being so cool-headed despite the situation.
One person said, “Loop pedal or not, it always sounds amazing!” While another commented, “You did not need that loop pedal! You were incredible with that acoustic performance! I loved it”
A third person commented, “Thanks Ed! What a show! I love the fact that you just took the adversity in your stride and improvised to make it all work out (we all feel special that we got a one-of-a-kind show in the end)”.
Ed Sheeran delivers to the Eden Park crowd. Photo / Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The video ended with Sheeran in a Black Ferns jersey - that he wore for the encore of his Saturday night show - telling the camera, “Auckland, what a way to end the New Zealand tour.
“Thank you so much for having me in your beautiful country for the last three weeks. What a show, that was so fun and roll on Australia. Let’s go, nice one,” he said taking a sip of beer.
Despite technical difficulties and at times, terrible weather, the Bloodstream singer won over the hearts of the country.
First with his Wellington show in which he invited 10 year old Pippa Guerin on stage to sing with him. Then with his surprise appearances at Hobbiton in Matamata and Kōwhai Intermediate and Manurewa Intermediate where he performed at their school assembly.
Ed Sheeran pulled Palmerston North 10-year-old Pippa Guerin up on stage to help him sing Galway Girl during his concert at Sky Stadium, Wellington, on February 2, 2023. Photos / Supplied
But his generosity didn’t stop there, the English pop star teamed up with chocolate giant Whittaker’s to create a Special Ed-ition Ed Block with proceeds going towards the Auckland Flood Response.
Last week it was announced he had gone that one step further and teamed up with the brand to create five Special Ed-ition Ed Block bundles which included a signed Special Ed-ition Ed Sheeran Block, one signed Special Ed-ition Tee and a year’s supply of Whittaker’s.
The bundles were available for fans to bid on through TradeMe with all proceeds going to the Auckland Flood Response through Auckland City Mission.
