- Ed Sheeran’s three Sydney shows from 13-15 March drew 243,513 fans to the State’s home of major events, Stadium Australia;
- This smashed the all-time record for Stadium concerts in NSW – surpassing the 213,045 set by legendary rockers AC/DC for their Black Ice Tour shows in 2010, also at Stadium Australia;
- In a packed 2018 Stadium Australia events calendar, Ed Sheeran is one of a number of global entertainment superstars appearing in Sydney this year. On Friday 2 November, Taylor Swift will bring her Reputation Tour to Stadium Australia. Tickets and info here
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| Image: Sheerios lighting up Stadium Australia . . . fans lined up for hours to be front of stage at the Ed Sheeran concerts. Picture: Mark Evans. |
Nathan Davis
ONE man, one guitar, three incredible nights.
Sydney has fallen in love with English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran after he wowed capacity audiences at Stadium Australia.
Not only did Ed pack out three sold-out shows at Sydney’s Olympic venue, he earned a place in the country’s record books in the process.
A remarkable 243,513 fans experienced Ed Sheeran’s Divide World Tour at Stadium Australia, which rolled out over three successive nights from March 15-17. This set a new record for aggregate attendance at a series of stadium concerts in NSW.
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| Image: Ed Sheeran performed on stage on his own throughout the Divide World Tour and wowed capacity audiences. Picture: Mark Evans |
Ed was first booked to perform a one-off Sydney concert. However, after more than 710,000 tickets sold within a day of general public sales, Australian and New Zealand tour promoter Frontier Touring announced two additional shows.
What followed was a special week in Sydney entertainment history. Each night Ed dazzled a capacity audience.
The attendances were:
- Thursday 13 March – 79,726;
- Friday 14 March – 81,752;
- Saturday 15 March – 82,035
Aggregate attendance: 243,513.
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| Image: The Devil’s Horns are a giveaway . . . A full house to see AC/DC at Stadium Australia in 2010. |
The new mark of just under a quarter of a million smashed the old benchmark of 213,045 set by AC/DC during their Black Ice Tour in 2010.
In an astonishing achievement for Ed and Frontier Touring, the Australia/New Zealand leg of the Divide Tour sold over 1 million tickets, surpassing the previous record of 950,000 sales set by Dire Straits during their 1986 tour.
Ed’s Australian tour took him to shows at Perth’s Optus Stadium (2), Adelaide Oval (1), Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium (4), Sydney’s Stadium Australia (3) and Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium (2) before he jet off to New Zealand for shows at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium (3) and Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium (3).
“I’ve always loved coming to Australia and New Zealand. So many amazing musicians have toured there and I am humbled to have broken these records,” Ed said.
The phenomenal success of the Ed Sheeran Tour follows an electrifying run of stellar live music acts at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
Last year Adele enchanted two huge crowds of 98,364 and 96,470 in back-to-back concerts. The Adele Live 2017 tour played “In The Round”, in front of 194,834 fans sitting around the stage in the centre of Stadium Australia as well as filling the stands.
Just four days later superstar Justin Bieber rocked the Stadium in his Purpose Tour, thrilling an audience of close to 70,000 fans.
In 2015, more than 76,000 fans turned out to witness pop goddess Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour, in a performance that was immortalised in a film documenting the show.
Taylor will be back at the Stadium for another special evening of live entertainment on Friday 2 November.
Tickets for Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour here.
