Ed Sheeran removed the B stage from his Loop Tour show in Philadelphia after admitting he feared what might happen if he performed in the middle of the audience amid the controversy surrounding the tour.
The 35-year-old singer addressed the decision during his concert on Saturday night, explaining that the show would differ from its usual format. He also introduced a new backing band whose members had only three days to learn his songs.
“At this point in the show, to be honest, I usually go out to a B stage, and I’m going to be totally honest with you, I didn’t know what this audience would be like tonight. I didn’t know if I’d have things thrown at me,” Sheeran told the crowd.
He added: “I apologise that today is not the usual show. I took the B stage out because I was afraid what might happen if I stood in the middle and I will admit that. So, the show is a little bit different.”
The changes followed the withdrawal of Sheeran’s friends, Irish folk band Boega, who would usually perform with him during the concert. The group, along with the tour’s opening acts, dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestine after Macklemore was removed as an opening act.
Sheeran said the departure created a particular challenge because some songs could not be performed using only his loop pedal. He said he contacted a friend he had toured with over several years and asked her to perform with him, before she helped find additional musicians.
“There are certain songs that just don’t work on the loop pedal,” he said. “So when my friends dropped out of this show, I was thinking, how am I going to keep the show the same? And how am I going to get musicians to stand on stage with me in a week when no one wants to stand on stage with me?”
He said the replacement musicians had agreed to perform despite knowing that Sheeran’s public image had become the subject of intense criticism.
“They said yes to being on stage with the knowledge that the world thought I was a certain type of person,” he said. “They said yes with the knowledge that the world may hate them too for standing on stage with me.”
Sheeran then introduced Mike on drums, CJ on keys, Eric on bass, Clay on guitar and his friend Alicia Enstrom on violin, thanking them for joining him in Philadelphia.
Earlier in the concert, Sheeran also spoke about the controversy surrounding him over the previous week.
