On the opening night of Ed Sheeran’s U.S. leg of the LOOP Tour in Glendale, Arizona, the singer told fans he plans to “take some time off and do the dad thing,” while also starting a nearly five-month North America run in support of his album “Play.”
When Ed Sheeran took the stage in Glendale, Arizona, the mood was anything but distant—even as he let slip a temporary goodbye.
Toward the end of his opening-night show on the U.S. leg of his LOOP Tour, Sheeran suggested fans might not see him for a while after this run. “I’m going to take some time off and do the dad thing,” he told the tens of thousands filling State Farm Arena outside of Phoenix.
That line landed alongside a bigger message that he later tied to life beyond the tour. Sheeran said he is relocating to the U.S. with his wife Cherry Seaborn and their daughters, adding, “I’m just about to move to America.”
The tour itself is timed to keep momentum moving while his personal plans take shape. Sheeran’s LOOP Tour—supporting his latest album, “Play”—kicked off in January in New Zealand, Australia and South America. On Saturday, June 13, he returned to North America to commence a nearly five-month run.
It’s also the second stadium outing of his career. While the production is still built for scale. it feels distinct from his three-year “The Mathematics Tour. ” which carried an even more grandiose sweep. The LOOP Tour arrives with a stately curved screen, multihued lasers, creative video imagery, pyro, and an intermittently extended bridge.
Unlike “The Mathematics Tour,” Sheeran was mostly unaccompanied by other musicians. The main exception came from Irish folk band Beoga, who appeared on a few tracks, including “Galway Girl.”
On stage, the evening mixed big-screen spectacle with a performer’s instinct for keeping a stadium from feeling too empty. Sheeran. 35. stood out as a solo act armed with a guitar. keyboard. and looping pedals—still able to turn an enormous venue into something that felt surprisingly close. His opening “You Need Me. I Don’t Need You” brought chaotic energy and a hyperactive video of spinning Sheerans. but the messy sound at times left his singing indecipherable. That issue persisted across the 2-hour and 45-minute performance.
Even so, the crowd had plenty to latch onto. Sheeran’s frequent chatting flowed easily. and his storytelling offered a softer thread through the volume—whether paying tribute to his late friend with “Eyes Closed” or explaining why he doesn’t love playing “Supermarket Flowers” (even as he delivered it. to tender effect).
Clad in his own tour T-shirt and baggy black pants. with a light beard and close-cut hair that now misses its mussed quality. Sheeran moved between the main stage and a circular B-stage where he looked most at ease. That’s where he appeared especially connected during “Thinking Out Loud” and “Perfect. ” pulling the most sentimental parts of the set into a tighter circle.
He also worked to get the audience physically involved. During “Celestial. ” he urged fans to clap and jump in a moment that played out like a nod to Coldplay’s crowd-commanding style. And for “Camera. ” he asked the stadium to snap a flash-enabled keepsake image—an event that turned the venue dotted with blinking lights into its own kind of prop.
For all the wonky sound, Sheeran’s voice never wavered. His textured tone dipped high and low on “Supermarket Flowers. ” his vocals layered into a symphony of harmony on “Tenerife Sea. ” and his sardonic delivery of “I Don’t Care” locked into the swaying beat. Behind him. a video screen floated with a mashup of surprise cameos. including Justin Bieber in costumes of both animals and… corn.
The looping process—built into the tour’s identity—was threaded through nearly every song. He banged the hollow body of his guitar to create the backbeat for “I’m a Mess,” and at the start of “Castle on the Hill,” his stacked chords sounded like a swarm of insects.
At one point. Sheeran introduced another layer of the evening through a video that opened the show. laying out a standard overview—then letting his voiceover add detail about where it began. He described learning his craft playing in pubs for “a handful of uninterested people. ” then building his musicianship through clubs. theaters. arenas and stadiums.
The message was clear even when the production was loud: after 15 years in the business. he still frames his success as something earned one step at a time. It was a reminder that Sheeran has long paid his dues—and that his rise. as he tells it. came from gradual development rather than instant transformation.
And as he stood in State Farm Arena with the LOOP Tour underway, he also set a clock on what comes next. Between the hint of taking time off “to do the dad thing” and the plan to move to America with Cherry Seaborn and their daughters, the show didn’t just feel like a start to the U.S. run.
It felt like an opening act for what might come after—while fans were still watching, clapping, and snapping pictures under the stadium lights.
Ed Sheeran LOOP Tour Play State Farm Arena Glendale Arizona Cherry Seaborn music tour Spotify Beoga Tenerife Sea Galway Girl