Review: Ed Sheeran enthralls at the Met Philly in an intimate ‘sad, happy’ show, on the first of his two-night Philly stop

“For the first half, you’ll be quite sad. But the second half of this gig is what I call happy hour, and everyone’s invited.”

Standing with his guitar slung across his shoulders in a casual, all-black outfit, Ed Sheeran gave the 3,400-strong audience a heads-up about the two-and-a-half-hour-long night at the Met Philly about to play out.

Following opening act singer-songwriter Ben Kweller, who sang five songs including “Thirteen” — a song Kweller sang at Sheeran’s 2019 wedding with Cherry Seaborn — Sheeran strolled right up to the mic standing in the middle of the stage at 8:30 p.m., on the dot. He welcomed wildly eager fans with a smile and a heart-wrenching rendition of “Boat” that evoked something deep in the audience as many sang in unison, word for word the first track from his recently released - (read: Subtract) album.

“[It was] a beautiful crowd in an amazing venue steeped in history,” Sheeran told The Inquirer after the show.

The redheaded pop superstar graced the Met Philly stage for an intimate show on Friday, the night before his stadium performance at Lincoln Financial Field. The Met show is one of 14 theater concerts Sheeran is doing in select cities for The ‘-’ Tour (pronounced the “Subtract Tour”), named after the singer’s sixth album.

In the North Broad Street venue, Sheeran got personal, spilling “secrets” with his fans and playing the last album of his mathematics-themed saga the way it was intended to be heard — sung to a smaller (by Sheeran’s standards) crowd, with soft notes from the backing band and the quiet strings of his guitar.

This mathematics-themed album journey began with + (Plus), released when Sheeran was 18. He intended to follow that with -, he said to the audience, but continued on to x, ÷, and =. The career-spanning stadium trek that will bring him to the Linc is called The ‘+ - = ÷ x’ Tour.

The album that “became really important to me,” Sheeran explained about -, was originally meant to be a 10-track acoustic collection. The death of his friend Jamal Edwards, who gave Sheeran his first big break, his wife’s cancer scare (”She is recovering well,” Sheeran said in May), and the strain of a copyright trial (which he later won — making the night all the more special for fans who feared his exit from the industry if he lost) unleashed an outpouring of emotions manifesting into this 14-song album.

“I can tell you these secrets cause we’re in this circle of trust now,” he said to the crowd.

With each song sung by the audience in unison, the multigenerational gathering of Sheerios didn’t shy away from letting the singer know how much he meant to them, even interrupting a cappella runs during solos. In the sea of packed velvet seats, the energy followed the mood of each song just as the lights, which illuminated the abstract backdrop on stage, waxed and waned..

It’s the moments of grief and hope in one’s life that Sheeran celebrates with - ; the album made it necessary for the singer to include intimate shows on the tour. Sheeran is a singer-songwriter at heart who yearns to be heard not only singing earnest ballads of hopeful love, but also soulful singles about relationships put to the test of grief and illness.

“I came up in pubs and bars and restaurants and I played shows where people just ignored me and talked over me, and all I wanted was for people to listen,” he said at the Met. “I always wanted to play theaters and have people listen to the songs that I write and I’ve just had an hour of that, so thank you.”

On Friday night, Sheeran played a two-part show — a sad first half, followed by a “happy hour” of older hits. With his backing band leading him through the sad hour, Sheeran ran through the songs of - , switching out guitars between each song as he chatted about the inspirations behind the “quiet, soft, sad album.”

Halfway through the night, the band left and Sheeran jammed out with his guitar and loop pedal. The crowd, already at the edge of their seats, remained standing for the rest of the night as the singer played hits like “The A Team” and “Bloodstream” and colored lights revealed faces of joy and awe in the sea of people — from the orchestra to the top balcony.

“I’m really happy to be back in Philadelphia,” he said. “So many great concerts, so many great nights out, so many great experiences. This is the first time I’ve played in this theater — it’s such a beautiful theater.”

“Really excited to play the big old Eagles [stadium] tomorrow,” he told The Inquirer later.

Walking off the stage after a fiery “Bad Habits,” chants for an encore brought Sheeran back to the mic to belt out a melodious solo of “The Parting Glass,” whispering “good night and joy be with you all” to a silent audience, who later screamed with joy when the singer started singing the final song of the night, “Afterglow.”

Bathed in the white light spotlight, Sheeran let the last line settle in as he unstrapped his guitar.

“I will hold on to the afterglow.”

Full band:

“Boat”

“Salt Water”

“Eyes Closed”

“Life Goes On”

“Dusty”

“End of Youth”

“Colourblind”

“Curtains”

“Borderline”

“Spark”

“Vega”

“Sycamore”

“No Strings”

“The Hills of Aberfeldy”

Solo:

“The A Team”

“Shivers”

“Thinking Out Loud”

“Perfect”

“Bloodstream”

“Shape of You”

“Bad Habit”

Encore (solo):

“The Parting Glass”

“Afterglow”