Ed Sheeran Mathematics + – = ÷ x Tour – review

5th June 2022 2 By Rachael Stray

We were lucky enough to bag tickets to see Ed Sheeran Mathematics + – = ÷ x Tour at the Stadium of Light in June, so thought I’d share my review.

I last saw Ed in 2018 when he came to St James Park in Newcastle and I went with Steve.

This was my first visit back to The Stadium of Light for quite a few years and I went with my two besties.

Ed Sheeran was supposed to be playing three nights at The Stadium of Light – Thursday to Saturday, and we had tickets for the first evening which was cancelled in April, and our tickets were moved to the Friday night instead.

Ed Sheeran Mathematics Tour at the Stadium of Light

I was apprehensive about travelling to the gig but it was a much better experience than I had worried about.

Driving was the best decision because the queues for the Metro were horrendous and I was away really quickly post-show.

I parked at Sunderland Enterprise Park and befriended two lovely lasses from Teesside who I walked to the stadium with and managed to bump into them on the way back too!

The parking and the stadium were well sign posted.

I followed the signs for the purple area where my ticket was for and waited for my friends.

We got through the turnstiles quickly and soon found our seats we had a great view of the impressive stage set up.

The large screens soon showed a ten minute countdown and they were drawn up to reveal Ed centre stage, guitar in hand and he opened the show with Tides to a raucous cheer from the crowd.

I absolutely loved the set up for the Mathematics tour and it was clear that a lot of investment had gone into it.

Ed performed in the centre of the venue, encircled by huge curved screens and he was spinning round which was extremely impressive.

This meant no matter where you were stood or sat we all had a great view and could see Ed!

Huge screens shaped like plectrums also displayed Ed and the accompanying graphics and videos.

Ed explained his famous loop pedal station to the crowd and he had four of them at his feet on the revolving stage floor.

And inbetween songs he talked about song writing, how his journey started and his passion for his craft was palpable.

Unlike previous gigs, Ed was joined in the round by a band for collaboration tracks, which don’t work on the loop station, big hitters like Peru, Beautiful People and I Don’t Care.

The atmosphere was electric and the stadium was bouncing.

There was a real mix of current and classic Sheeran songs and the crowd were loving it.

For Galway Girl, the stadium was transformed into an orange and green Irish jig and he was joined on stage by a fiddle player who was part of the band for support act Maisie Peters.

The A Team was pretty poignant with lights from our mobile phones twinkling around the stadium.

Ed really got the crowd involved and we were singing along loudly.

We sang our hearts out and danced the night away.

There was fireworks, flames, Mexican waves and such good vibes!

I had an absolutely fantastic night and it was just the tonic I needed – time with my two best friends, dancing and singing our hearts out to Shape of You, Castle on the hill, Shivers and more!

If you’re going to see Ed on his Mathematics tour you’re in for a treat.

With thanks to my best friends Joanne Harrison and Catherine Riley for the brilliant pictures. I had my phone away (apart from using the torch occasionally) and just enjoyed being in the moment.