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Live Review: Ed Sheeran at Marvel
26 Feb 2026
Opening the evening is Melbourne’s own Aaron Rowe, whose gravel-toned vocals and blues-infused indie rock provide a compelling start. Rowe’s breakout single ‘Ghost’ resonates strongly with its brooding build and emotional grit cutting through the early chatter of arriving crowds. ‘Hell of a Time’ showcases his knack for arena-ready hooks, while newer material hints at an artist growing confidently into bigger stages.
Next up, Mia Wray brings her powerhouse vocals and radiant charisma as she ignites the stage. From the first notes of ‘Work For Me’, Wray commands attention, her voice soaring with both technical precision and raw emotion. ‘Monster Brain’ pulses with indie-pop urgency, while ‘Tell Her’ has early arrivals on their feet. Wray’s ability to balance vulnerability with belting choruses makes her set feel deeply personal despite the scale. She shares a new anthemic song she released a few weeks ago called ‘When We Were Young’ to truly win over the crowd and leaves a lasting impression.
As the final support, Melbourne favourite Vance Joy receives a hero’s welcome. Opening with ‘Missing Piece’, Joy’s breezy optimism washes over the stadium like a late-summer sunset. ‘Saturday Sun’ shimmers with jangly warmth as he strums the ukelele, while ‘Georgia’ hushes the crowd into a stillness hanging on every note.
He shares some personal stories about his songs including recently released track ‘Divine Feelings’ written about when he met his wife 6 years ago. “It was a lovely first moment, and I didn’t know where things would end up. I just knew this was a great person and I was trying to go wherever it went. She’s in the crowd somewhere tonight,” he says as waves at the sea of people before him smiling.
Joy beams with charisma as he shares his biggest hits ‘Fire and the Flood’, ‘Lay It On Me’ and includes a surprise cover of KISS’ ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’, adding a fun twist to the evening before ‘Riptide’ sends the stadium into a roaring choir as tens of thousands chant in unison.
A video montage of archival footage from Ed Sheeran’s early years flashes up on the towering screen but as we watch we start to become distracted by screaming fans near the dividing walkway between the general admission floor area. Sheeran is spotted casually walking through the audience towards the round B-stage set up in the middle of the front-floor section to begin the show.
He launches into ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ and immediately reminds Melbourne why he remains unmatched in live solo performance. Armed only with his loop station and guitar, he builds the track layer by layer, beatboxing and riffing with breathless precision displaying both technical wizardry and playful bravado. An extending bridge moves across from the main stage to connect with the B-stage for Sheeran to seamlessly walk across as he continues the song to the end.
The main stage lights up with ‘Sapphire’ shimmering under kaleidoscopic visuals before ‘Castle on the Hill’ sends the stadium into full-throttle euphoria. It’s a song that resonates with a lot of people even though it’s so specific about a small farming town in the East of England where he’s from. Everyone sings along and goes nuts on the chorus. Phones light up the stands and fireworks set off over the stage.
“Australia has always felt like a second home for so long. This is the first place that I had a hit outside of the United Kingdom. It’s the first time that I was, like, maybe what I’m doing will work outside of where I’m from. And I love that you guys want to come to these shows,” Sheeran exclaims.
“The first time I came here was 15 years ago and I played in a place to like 60 people. One of those people ended up being my promoter, Michael Gudinski who promoted the first show I did here and now it’s Michael’s son Matt. Melbourne has a really special place in my heart as a city, I love it here,” he adds.
If there was ever doubt about Sheeran’s cross-generational appeal, ‘The A Team’ erases it. “It’s a song that has not changed but my career has changed dramatically since I wrote it. I wrote this at 18 and at the time I was playing in pubs, and I love that the song hasn’t changed but the audience has changed around it,” he reveals. He looks out across the stadium-filled audience that still feels like a Dublin pub to him.
“When I first started playing gigs in Australia, I was a teenager and the people that were coming to gigs were teenagers, but we’ve all grown up. I love that people are now bringing their children to their first gig experiences because it also means the people have never seen the show before or seen the loop.” Sheeran notes.
“The reason it’s called loop is because it’s a pedal, so everything tonight is completely live, there’s no backing track. It’s all made here on the spot and controlled at my feet – looped, layered, it’s deleted at the end, and it won’t be the same tomorrow. The best way for me to show you how it works is to play this song (‘Shivers’) right now,” he says before launching into the track.
Moving back to the B-stage for ‘Eyes Closed’, Sheeran shifts the mood to reflective vulnerability. The fan-voted segment that follows feels like a love letter to the devoted. Tonight, the chosen tracks are ‘Little Bird,’ ‘Happier’ and ‘I’m A Mess.’ He closes out this section at the B-stage with ‘Give Me Love’ that builds from delicate picking to thunderous crescendo.
Returning to the main stage, Sheeran welcomes Irish folk group Boega for a spirited run of collaborative tracks. ‘Galway Girl’ erupts into a joyous fiddle-fuelled dance party, immediately followed by the equally infectious ‘Nancy Mulligan’.
Sheeran recounts recently going through his old stuff and finding an old phone that was like a time machine looking back at text messages and photos with memories of friends, family and ex-girlfriends frozen in time. He shares the emotional song that came from this titled ‘Old Phone’ that resonates with many. ‘Camera’ delivers one of the night’s spectacular moments as everyone is encouraged to put their camera flash on and take photos at the same time to light up the stadium during the heartfelt chorus. We then all get up on our feet to jump in a shared moment of exhilaration on ‘Celestial’ that sparkles with playful energy.
Back on the B-stage, Sheeran launches into an ambitious mega-mix of songs he’s written for other artists including covers of Halsey and Khalid’s track ‘Eastside’, Anne Marie’s ‘2002’, Major Lazer and Justin Bieber’s ‘Cold Water’, One Direction’s ‘Little Things’ and Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’. It’s a reminder of the songwriting fingerprints he’s left across pop music.
“I love bringing all different types of people together and see multi-generational life. And these next two songs encapsulate that,” he says before sharing ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Perfect’ that turn Marvel Stadium into the world’s largest slow dance floor.
‘I See Fire’, closes this section on the main stage, roaring with cinematic intensity, flames flicker across the screens and fire cannons shoots up into the air over the audience as his voice climbs to a gritty peak matched with visuals of dragons flying across Middle Earth.
‘Symmetry’ adds a fresh dynamic before ‘Bloodstream’ becomes the night’s most electrifying moment — a pounding, almost rock-like explosion of looped chaos and catharsis. The sheer athleticism of building that song live remains breathtaking.
‘Afterglow’ offers a tender comedown before the encore detonates into pure pop ecstasy. ‘Shape of You’ is inevitable and unstoppable and we can feel the intensity of the bassline shaking the stands. ‘Azizam’ shimmers with vibrant pink colour and rhythm, while ‘Bad Habits’ closes the night in full dancefloor mode, red lights strobing as Sheeran sprints across the stage one last time. A huge fireworks display sets off for a worthy celebratory finish.
What sets Sheeran apart isn’t just the catalogue — it’s his craftsmanship. Every beat is built live. Every harmony is earned. In an era dominated by backing tracks and spectacle, he remains fiercely committed to the art of performance. Ed Sheeran proves once again that all he needs is a guitar, a loop pedal, and 50,000 voices ready to sing with him.
Words by Michael Prebeg
Photos by Amanda Lee Starkey
