Live Review: Ed Sheeran, Missy Higgins, Ryan McMullan

Ireland's own Ryan McMullan had the task of warming up the 83,000-strong crowd in preparation for Ed Sheeran, and his lovely voice certainly filled the huge stadium. By the time his set ended and the crowd prepared for tour support Missy Higgins, the General Admission area and a substantial number of seats had filled.

Quite funnily, when the lights dropped down for Missy Higgins arrival, a huge, collective 'Ohhhhhh' came over the crowd as Higgins walked out. She welcomed the crowd, telling them that it's the biggest show of the tour before opening with All For Believing, solo at the piano. She wrapped up the song and welcomed the rest of her band to the stage, while she moved to an acoustic guitar to play Everyone's Waiting, which was filled with beautiful harmonies from the singer and her band. Higgins herself was clearly pleased to be there, having told the crowd that she had actually bought tickets to attend one of Sheeran's concert in Melbourne before finding out she'd be supporting him on the tour.

Ten Days brought along an updated, extended instrumental, while latest single Futon Couch offered a different side of Higgins, dancing around the stage and moving freely to her new sound. Higgins' forthcoming album, which is expected in May, will show a different side of her as a musician, which was clear with the yet to be released album track, Cemetery, filled with a driving drum sound and almost chant-like vocals in places. She wrapped up with the set with a big singalong version of The Special Two, a cover of Hunters & Collectors' Throw Your Arms Around Me, and Steer from her 2007 album, On A Clear Night. Of course, it was the one Higgins is best known for that closed out her set, Scar, which the crowd were more than pleased to sing along to.

The energy was palpable while the crowd waited somewhat patiently for Ed Sheeran to make his arrival. Of course, it was done in a way that set the tone for the entire evening; Sheeran filmed while walking in from the backstage area, with two guys with animal head costumes behind him. A tech handed him his guitar as he jumped on the stage and away it went, kicking off with Castle On The Hill. "Sydney, how ya feeling?" he asked halfway through the track, then met with a huge cheer from the crowd.

It was an impressive stage set-up, with curved LED panels taking up most of the stage, Sheeran standing solo in front of them, with a bunch of speakers in front. Eraser saw a more animated version of Sheeran, as he jumped around the stage and stood atop raised speakers. Of course, The A Team was always going to be massive, and it did not disappoint after Sheeran told the crowd, "I'm going to play it now and you're going to sing it hopefully and it's going to be magic," while they lit up the stadium with their phone flashlights. It's a huge juxtaposition to Sheeran's first time playing this track in Sydney to just 60 people at Surry Hills' Hibernian House. This evening's version was a huge singalong, though it does feel a little odd to hear so many young voices singing so fervently to a song about Class A drug use.

The cheers continued into Don't/New Man, as did Sheeran's buoyant stage persona. He joked with the crowd before playing Dive, telling them to embrace their big karaoke moment during the chorus, and did his best to win over all the boyfriends and 'Super Dads' in the audience who may have been there unwillingly. He continued through the set with tracks like Bloodstream, Galway Girl (which had a huge amount of people up from their seats dancing), a cover of Nina Simone's Feeling Good that led into I See Fire, Perfect and Sing, before wrapping up the night on You Need Me, I Don't Need You.

Sheeran's musical ability is incredible, to the point that it's easy to forget that it's just one guy, a guitar, a voice and a looping station on stage. There's a damn good reason he's filling stadiums and breaking Australian capacity records, and that was certainly on show. If you can somehow still get a ticket for the next two Sydney concerts, grab it with both hands.