Ed Sheeran opened for himself on the most recent date of his US tour, sharing that opener Khalid had been involved in a car accident.
Performing at the FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on Saturday (June 24) for his ‘+ – = ÷ x’ (‘Mathematics’) tour, the ‘Shape Of You’ singer took to stage earlier than planned.
According to the singer, Khalid, his planned opening act, was involved in a car accident.
“He is recovering, and we wish him the best,” he explained in a fan-shot video.
“And I’m going to say this after every song because if people don’t know who was going to be the opening act today, people are going to be walking in being like, ‘This show isn’t what I thought it was,’” he said. “‘I thought there would be more fireworks.’”
Ed Sheeran opening for…Ed Sheeran!!! What a treat! #edsheeran #edsheeranfedex#edsheeranlandovermd pic.twitter.com/1IHqojqVVp
— 🌸Onward🌸 (@beaches_n_mts) June 25, 2023
Sheeran performed a 30-minute, stripped back acoustic set of songs from his newest album ‘Subtract’.
“So again, if everyone is just walking in, I’m today’s opening act,” Sheeran told the crowd.
“Usually when I start playing, it’s like pitch-black and now I get to see everyone. It’s awesome,” he added. “This is pretty fun.”
“I kind of feel like when you’re the main act, there’s a bunch of pressure because people have paid to see you but I feel like when you’re the opening act you’re sort of like, ‘Let’s have fun. Let’s play songs.’”
@ronswon Took my wife to see #edsheeran for our anniversary. #edsheeranconcert #myspace
In another video, Sheeran said: “I really hope Khalid gets well soon and that he’ll be joining us in Boston.”
In a three-star review of new album ‘Subtract’, NME wrote that it was a record of Sheeran’s “troubled times laid bare”, adding: “Written with The National’s Aaron Dessner as death and depression enveloped his life, these brutal circumstances are reflected in these lo-fi missives.”
It concluded that the album’s closing note hopefully indicated that “he has come through the worst of a rough patch that you wouldn’t wish on anyone”.
Elsewhere, two weekends back, Shawn Mendes appeared onstage for the first time in more than a year as he joining Sheeran for a surprise performance.