ED SHEERAN
Accor Stadium, February 24
★★★★

If maths isn’t your strong suit, you’re in the same camp as Ed Sheeran who once told the BBC that he failed the subject. Rest assured he has simplified show business down to an art.

The “Mathematics Tour” is the pop-rock sensation’s first venture down under since a world record-breaking tour five years ago, and he’s back wielding a repertoire with widespread appeal.

More than 80,000 fans flocked to see Sheeran on Friday, wrapping the 360-degree area surrounding the stage. Accordingly, the singer-songwriter got his steps in, taking the guitar on robust walks around the stage and hopping on and off a rotating outer ring to cater to spectators around the stadium.

The rhythmic strumming – and occasional drumming – of Sheeran’s guitar rippled through the crowd in high-energy hits like Castle on the Hill and shone in a solo in Overpass Graffiti. Special guest Tina Hizon on violin fuelled the spirits of concertgoers in Galway Girl, while the band, placed into separate raised compartments and scattered offstage among the crowd, drove the beat and added dimension.

Having started his career playing in pubs, Sheeran is a natural when speaking to a crowd. Among a spattering of short monologues, he said it was surreal to be playing songs such as The A Team – his debut solo single from 12 years ago – on his fourth concert tour.

It was that single, as well as Visiting Hours, Photograph and Perfect that tugged at heartstrings and showed Sheeran as the serenading sensation he is.

What the show lacked in terms of spectacle from the performer was made up by fireworks, flames, flashing lights and, most of all, by the Grammy Award-winner’s vocal prowess.