Concertgoers light up Allegiant Stadium for unforgettable Ed Sheeran performance

Saturday, July 25, 2026 | 2 a.m. Before Ed Sheeran took the stage at Allegiant Stadium for his LOOP Tour stop in Las Vegas, his voice echoed through the sound system and looped back to his origins. He spoke about busking, self‑recorded CDs and the long climb from playing in nearly empty pubs to filling arenas and stadiums packed with fans. “I remember stuffing clothes into my guitar case, selling CDs to pay my rent,” he said. “All of a sudden, it was theaters, into arenas, into stadiums and it hasn’t really stopped since.” He then introduced the loop station, the foot‑controlled device that lets a solo performer sound like a full band. The intro served as a fitting kick‑off for a LOOP Tour show built on live layering and self‑made sound—a reminder that the stadium‑ready spectacle still begins with one man, one guitar and the stubborn, looping persistence that got him there. The intro ended and Sheeran appeared before the crowd, but not on the main stage as most concertgoers might have expected; instead he performed his opening song, “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You,” from a smaller auxiliary B stage located near midfield. The high‑energy track with rapid‑fire lyrics set the tone for the night. At the song’s end, Sheeran introduced himself to the clamoring crowd. “My name is Ed. My job is to entertain you,” he said. “Your job is to go home without a voice.” Throughout the night he continued with similar refrains, urging the audience to sing along. Among them: “Be big and Vegasy!” “Scream it out!” Another time he said, “If you know the words, sing it loud. If you don’t know the words, make ’em up.” The fans in attendance—40,000 or so, according to Sheeran—were more than obliged. For more than 2½ hours, performing more than 30 songs, Sheeran displayed the talent that has earned him the admiration of fans and fellow artists. Some of the instrumentals favorites: - “Thinking Out Loud,” his Grammy‑winning Song of the Year—the award came at the 2016 ceremony—where fans lit up the arena with their cellphones. - “Perfect,” the 2017 hit that brought possibly the night’s loudest and longest ovation. - “Shivers,” his 2021 hit about falling in love from his “=” album. - “Castle on the Hill,” the 2017 high‑octane autobiographical anthem. - “Camera,” a track from his 2025 album “Play.” Sheeran asked audience members to pull out their phones and use the camera’s flash each time he sang the line, “I don’t need a camera to capture this moment.” - “Celestial,” a 2022 single released in collaboration with The Pokémon Company. At Sheeran’s urging, the crowd was on its feet, jumping, singing and clapping along. - “I Don’t Care,” his 2019 collaboration with Justin Bieber. As Sheeran sang, the giant video board down the main stage played the song’s hilarious video in which the two artists appear in assorted outrageous costumes, including Sheeran in a giant panda suit and a bathrobed dressing gown and Bieber in costumes such as a giant crystal pickle cone, a giant maize cob and teddy bear outfits. There were poignant moments too, including “Photograph,” a song from his 2014 album about long‑distance loves; “Supermarket Flowers,” from his 2017 album “÷,” a tribute to his late grandmother written from his mother’s perspective as she clears out her grandmother’s hospital room—the song opens with the lyric, “I took the supermarket flowers from the windowsill”; and “Eyes Closed,” a 2023 song written after the sudden death of his longtime friend Jamal Edwards. He also sang a well‑received medley of songs he wrote or co‑wrote that became hits for other artists, including “Eastside” (recorded by Benny Blanco, Halsey and Khalid); “2002” (recorded by Anne‑Marie); “Cold Water” (recorded by Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber and MØ); “Little Things” (recorded by One Direction); and “Love Yourself” (which Bieber released in 2015). Throughout the night Sheeran mostly downplayed his stardom, though he did note that one of the joys of playing stadiums is being able to speak massive audiences into doing things at the same time, singing at the same time, dancing at the same time. “It’s astonishing to look out and see … just thousands and thousands of people enjoying themselves,” he said. That most likely explains why he spent the previous night at Sphere Las Vegas, going straight from the airport to catch the Backstreet Boys, whom he called one of his favorite groups, and telling fans, “If anyone hasn’t seen that show, go see that show. Obviously not now. You’re good for now.” He closed with a three‑song encore of “Shape of You,” “Azizam” and “Bad Habits,” sending the crowd into a final sing‑along and capping a night that had invited energy from the start. It also echoed the thought that framed the night from the opening recorded message: “You know, I was playing in pubs and clubs, and virtually nobody wanted to hear me. And now we play to literally 20 million people over the past 15 years. But I don’t take it for granted ’cause I can still close my eyes and picture what it’s like to play to nobody.”