Ed Sheeran brought his tour to Philadelphia on Saturday (Sept. 19), where he told the crowd that he had removed the center stage from his concert because of safety concerns.
During the performance at Lincoln Financial Field, the singer explained that he was “afraid of what might happen” if he performed on a B stage positioned in the middle of the audience. Sheeran admitted he wasn’t sure whether fans might throw things at him.
The show marked Sheeran’s first concert since Macklemore was removed from the Loop Tour and all of the tour’s supporting acts subsequently dropped out.
Sheeran began the night by apologizing to the roughly 50,000 fans in attendance. He explained that the turbulent week had forced him to make some difficult decisions, some of which ultimately proved to be mistakes, and told the audience he was “so, so sorry.”
He also addressed Israel and Gaza from the stage. Sheeran described the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel as “horrific” while calling the situation facing civilians in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
“This is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore,” he said.
Sheeran admitted that he had questioned whether the tour should continue and even wondered if he still wanted to be an artist.
“I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” Sheeran said.
The turmoil began Monday (Sept. 14), when Macklemore was removed from the tour after making “Free Palestine” remarks and performing his political track “Hind’s Hall” at MetLife Stadium. Promoter Messina Touring Group cited venues that would not permit him to remain on the lineup.
More departures from Sheeran’s tour followed soon after, with supporting acts Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe pulling out in solidarity. Beoga, Sheeran’s house band for the tour, also exited in protest.
As a result, Sheeran took the Philadelphia stage with a hastily assembled band put together with violinist Alicia Enstrom. He gave credit to the musicians, who had only three days to learn the set.
The next test is scheduled for Sept. 25 and 26 at Massachusetts’ Gillette Stadium, which is owned by Robert Kraft, whom Macklemore accused of spearheading the pressure campaign against him.
