There’s been so much ED SHEERAN activity of late that it was inevitable we’d get a tour announcement, and today is the day it happens.
Ed is back and bringing his + – = ÷ x STADIUM TOUR to UK venues next year, kicking off the shows right here in South Wales.
The opening night is in Kicking off in April, the record-breaking performer will play shows in Cardiff, then it’s Sunderland, Manchester and Glasgow in June before returning to London’s Wembley Stadium for three nights in June and July 2022.
Ed will be at the Principality Stadium, for two nights on the 26th and 27th May next year.
He’s calling this ‘The Mathematics Tour’ and it doesn’t take a genius to work out the math on how much money these shows are going to bring in, not only on tickets sales, but the huge volume of merchandise he shifts at these shows.
Ed’s upcoming tour will see him return to stadiums for the first time since his record-breaking Divide Tour, which took place over a two year stretch from 2017.
He last played the city in 2018 in front of almost a quarter of a million fans over a record-breaking four-night run at the stadium. On the opening night in Cardiff, he said……
“Hello Cardiff. I haven’t packed a gig in Cardiff since 2014 and it was a lot smaller than this.
Well, we can tell you, he played the University Great Hall in Cardiff on the 18th October 2011. 11 years later he’s the biggest musical star in the world, selling out stadium venues wherever he goes.
This will be our first chance to see the new album performed live, and we’re told this is a whole new ‘ED EXPERIENCE’. There will be a whole new production with Ed’s stage in the round, meaning he’ll be surrounded by fans at every venue.
Ed is determined to get these tickets to real fans, and has promised to have a “strict stance” against anyone using unofficial secondary ticketing sites.
The shows on this tour will use mobile digital ticketing which has safeguards in place to ensure genuine fans are buying genuine tickets, and to stop unofficial ticketing sites, and ticket sellers, from being able to resell and rip off fans.
To make this process easier you’re encouraged to sign up for an account with an official ticket vendor in advance of the on sale.
If you do buy tickets, and find you can’t then go to the gig, you’ll be able to sell your tickets to other fans at the price you paid, plus a booking fee. All this will happen through an official reseller.
There’s not a lot else to tell you except tickets go on sale on the 25th September, and demand will be enormous.
We’ve added all the tour dates at the bottom of this page.
ED SHEERAN is also getting ready to release his new album, and before you know it, you’ll have it in your collection and every track will no doubt make it into the charts on the day of release.
Sheerios have kept Bad Habits at number one for weeks now, and the new single, Shivers is heading that way too. Ed assures us he has more tunes up his sleeve.
We’re slowly getting details of the new album, and shortly we’ll tell you how to get a special edition and a FREE autographed card with an original Ed signature.
Ed said the new album is to be called ‘=’ (Equals), no real surprise there after the previous albums. We can expect it to arrive in our ears on October 29th.
-
= Front Cover -
= Rear
The album is the fourth in Ed’s symbol series following his debut album + in 2011, × in 2014 and ÷ in 2017, each of which topped the charts around the world.
Ed said this album has been four years in the making.
“I started writing and recording this album June 2017,” he revealed. “It’s been a long, long process. I’ve been through love, loss, new life, grief, and everything in between during the whole period of writing it, and I feel like it’s really a coming of age record.”
Equals is an especially emotional album as it was partly inspired by his late friend Michael.
“I’ve never been more proud of a body of work, or more excited/nervous for you all to hear it. The next song off of it is called ‘Visiting Hours,’ which I finished for my friend Michael who sadly passed away this year.”
The full tracklist of 14 songs, including his first two singles, “Bad Habits” and “Visiting Hours” is below.
- Tides
- Shivers
- First Times
- Bad Habits
- Overpass Graffiti
- The Joker and the Queen
- Leave Your Life
- Collide
- 2step
- Stop the Rain
- Love in Slow Motion
- Visiting Hours
- Sandman
- Be Right Now
On the same day he announced his album, Ed said he’d been working with other musicians on the album, and some may come as a surprise. He tweeted…….
“Thank you to @kylieminogue and @jimmybarnesofficial for sharing their talent on the backing vocals of the recorded version of this song.”
He was referring to his current single “Visiting Hours” which is inspired, and dedicated to his late friend Michael Gudinski.
-
Ed Sheeran and Michael Gudinksi -
Kylie Minogue and Ed Sheeran perform at the state memorial for Michael Gudinski
Michael was an Australian record label founder and music impresario, who was a friend and mentor to Ed. He performed his new song Visiting Hours, which he wrote after Michael’s death at age 68 in March, at a state memorial service for the music legend in Melbourne.
Ed said of the video…..
Filmed a live version of visiting hours in St Stephens Church, Hampstead. I finished writing this song going through proper grief for the first time, and for me it’s one of the most important songs on =.
I think we all agree that the line – “I wish that heaven, had Visiting Hours” is one of the most touching and emotional we’ve heard for a long time.
So, with the new album set for release, you’ll want a special copy in your collection.
There are so many different combinations to put together, get the right on and you’ll receive a signed artcard with your package.
Most bundles includes the Standard CD and your choice of any other music format:
Standard Black Vinyl, Red Cassette, Recycled Vinyl and Deluxe Vinyl Book. Hand signed artcard by Ed Sheeran.
The = Standard 12” 1LP this is the standard packaging of the Vinyl album.
The Limited Edition = Cassette in Red with multicolour splatters on the front and back, this version of the album is exclusive to this webstore.
More details here on the exclusive Vinyl’s:
The Limited Edition = Recycled 12” 1LP:
The vinyl record is 140g and pressed using 100% recycled plastic material, using waste from the production of other vinyl records.
As well as reducing plastic, this gives each record a completely unique colour appearance, depending on the material available at the time of pressing. The sound quality is comparable to that of a normal coloured vinyl.
The = Limited Edition Deluxe Book:
This collector’s item contains a 12” 1LP clear vinyl with 3 colours red/blue/yellow ‘rainbow swirl’ marbling and CD of the album housed within pockets in the book. A 20-page hardbook cover full of lyrics, credits, photos and exclusive artwork.
If you’d like to order and get more details, go here – EQUALS.
Full tour dates
APRIL 2022
Thurs 28th Ireland Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh
MAY 2022
Thurs 5th Ireland Limerick Thomond Park
Thurs 12th Belfast Boucher Road Playing Fields
Thurs 26th Cardiff Principality Stadium
Fri 27th Cardiff Principality Stadium
JUNE 2022
Fri 3rd Sunderland Stadium of Light
Sat 4th Sunderland Stadium of Light
Fri 10th Manchester Etihad Stadium
Sat 11th Manchester Etihad Stadium
Thurs 16th Glasgow Hampden Park
Fri 17thUK Glasgow Hampden Park
Weds 29th London Wembley Stadium
Thurs 30th London Wembley Stadium
JULY 2022
Fri 1st London Wembley Stadium
Thurs 7th Germany Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena
Thurs 14th Netherlands Amsterdam Johan Cruijff ArenA
Fri 15th Netherlands Amsterdam Johan Cruijff ArenA
Fri 22nd Belgium Brussels King Baudouin Stadium
Fri 29th France Paris Stade De France
AUGUST 2022
Thurs 4th Denmark Copenhagen Øresundsparken
Weds 10th Sweden Gothenburg Ullevi
Sat 20th Finland Helsinki Olympic Stadium
Thurs 25th Poland Warsaw PGE Narodowy
SEPTEMBER 2022
Thurs 1 Austria Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium
Sat 10th Germany Munich Olympiastadion
Fri 16th Switzerland Zurich Letzigrund Stadion
Fri 23rd Germany Frankfurt De