Words: Hayley Treadwell – Real Woman Real Review
Images: Andrew Treadwell – Andrew Treadwell Photography
Ed Sheeran hit Brisbane tonight for the first of 3 nights of the Loop Tour, and we were absolutely thrilled to go along and cover the show!
I myself have been an Ed Sheeran fan since + (plus) and there isn’t an album since that I haven’t enjoyed.
We arrived nice and early at Suncorp Stadium. You never know what you are going to get when 60,000 people decend on Suncorp, but when we arrived lines were great, everything flowed well and I was in with enough time to grab an early dinner, head to our seats and get ready for what was sure to be an afternoon and evening of amazing music. And it did not disappoint.
Aaron Rowe was first to take the stage, a young Irish fellow with an amazing voice. From the moment Aaron let out the first vocal of the afternoon, it was very clear he needed nothing more than his voice and his guitar. What a singer!
And he certainly won the crowd over with his sense of humor telling us at the start of his 2nd song, ‘this song about me being a prick’.
His set was short, full of songs telling stories, backed by his incredible tone, and was just an all round joy!
I was excited for the next act, Queenslands own Mia Wray!
This tour with Ed is the first time Mia has played a stadium, and honestly if this is not where she ends up on her own tour one day, I will be shocked.
Mia has a voice like no other, yet I hear so many different influences in it. Tori Amos, Amy Lee, Lana del Ray, Lady Gaga. But there is something in what Mia gives when she performs that makes me want to watch her again and again!
Her performance of ‘Monster Brain’ was especially captivating and absolutely my favorite of her set. Tears in my eyes, loving every moment of this song in this big Stadium! What an amazing dream come true for any fan, and I’m sure for Mia.
Another Australia artist was our final opener for the evening, Vance Joy!
An incredible artist who’s popularity has continued to grow through his story telling songs.
And I love the ‘extra’ stories you get to hear at live shows. I have always loved the song ‘Fire and the Flood’ but hearing Vance talk about how one of the lines was given to him by his mother, ‘everything is fine, when your heads resting next to mine’, well I now love the song even more! And this is why I love live music so much.
Vance performed a punchy 10 song set full of songs that had the crowd dancing and singing along.
3 fantastic opening acts! I’m was totally ready to party with Ed Sheeran now!
The huge screens are lit up with what looks like Pink swirling glitter as we wait for Ed to take the stage. And after a surprise little walk through the crowd, he did just that, on his B Stage!
Out in the middle of the crowd, Ed Sheeran began creating music and looping beats and then sprang into and energetic performance of ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’. Towards the end of the song, a bridge appeared from the main stage connecting to the B Stage, and Ed made his way over, waving at all the fans below and in the stands as he sung.
Over on the main stage Ed encouraged the crowd to loose their voices and start by shouting out ‘Sapphire’ during the chorus of the song, which we obligingly did!
‘Castle on the Hill’ and ‘The A Team’ got a huge cheer before Ed explained to any kids in the crowd, how he was creating and music and using his feet to make the Loops, hence the tour name, and then proceeded to show us all how well he does that with ‘Shivers’. This again had the crowd in fine singing and dancing mode as I watched the crowd on the floor erupt!
My favorite ever Ed Sheeran song was next, ‘Don’t’ and I think I sung along and kept up with every word as did most of the crowd, it was a blast.
A more somber song next as Ed made his way back across the bridge to the B stage singing ‘Eyes Closed’.
Before the show started tonight there was a QR code on all the screens to send a song request to Ed, and over on the B Stage this is what we got, a series of requested songs that were all amazing! ‘Tenerife Sea’ and ‘Supermarket Flowers’ making my heart so happy!
Back to the main stage and Ed introduced band ‘Beoga’, who have been supporting him on this tour, and it was a nice change of pace to have a band for a while.
My favorite part of this whole set was the visuals on the screens of Ed and Justin Bieber while Ed sang their song ‘I Don’t Care’. Justin Bieber dressed as an Ice Cream will always be awesome!
Another one of my favorite performances and favorite stories was ‘Old Phone’. Such a beautiful song with a deep meaning and Ed sang it beautifully.
The night was filled with special moments, Ed asking us all to take a photo with our flashes on at the same time during ‘Camera’, or delivering the expectation for 60,000 people to all jump on queue during ‘Celestial’; and then we did!! What a sight!
Ed even did a gender reveal for a couple from the crowd who had been holding a sign up all night!
Congrats on your baby boy 
I witnessed moments that made my heart so happy, strangers dancing with each other arm in arm, a proposal in the crowd, a security guard returning a dancing punters phone, people crying tears and sadness and screaming lyrics of passion and joy!
And a little kid up on shoulders being spotted by Ed and him asking them how the show was!
When you are surrounded by all that joy and happiness, it’s a nice reminder of the good in the world.
And Ed Sheeran, what a performer and what a human. I don’t think I have even been to a concert where the artist thanked me for coming, and that’s exactly what happened tonight in Brisbane. One of the biggest artist in the world, thanked us for queuing online for tickets, catching buses, getting babysitters, all we had to do to be there to share that magical night of music with him.
So my thanks to you Ed Sheeran. Thank you for coming back to Brisbane again and again! Thank you for supporting Australian Artists and sharing your stage with them, thank you for amazing songs and incredible albums and for always sharing your gift with us!
We had such a fantastic afternoon and evening of music. Thank you to the amazing folks at Frontier Touring and MG Live. Thank you to the amazing AXS ticketing staff that were fantastic this afternoon, I was so glad we could all mutually help each other!
And our further thanks to the incredible Ed Sheeran and all the amazing opening band for a fantastic live music event!!
Until the next gig
Hayley
