MANILA, Philippines — Ed Sheeran had quite the welcome on his return to the Philippines, and he made sure to let his Filipino fans know how much he loved them.
The British singer-songwriter was in the country for the third time, having previously visited in 2015 and 2018, making it quite the interval between concerts.
Early in his set at the SMDC Festival Grounds after performing the likes of "Blow" and "Shivers," Ed took the opportunity to speak to the crowd.
In introducing his first-ever hit single "The A Team," the artist recalled performing it numerous times in pubs where no one would pay attention until months later people started showing up to listen to him sing that very song.
Now he gets to perform them in vast venues like the one he was at in that moment, then he brought up a core memory from his first visit to the Philippines.
Ed recalled back in 2015 feeling how huge his Filipino fandom was and his concert that year was "the most crazy fun gig."
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"I'm so happy to be back... From rooms of no one to everyone here," Ed said before finally performing "The A Team."
Later on in the night during his performance of "Thinking Out Loud," Ed mentioned the Manila stop of 2015 was the loudest crowd of that tour.
"Since I haven't been here in a while, I need to be reminded," Ed quipped, asking the audience to take their loud energy and belt the song's chorus.
The main set ended with "Afterglow" and Ed once more expressed his gratitude to everyone coming out on a Saturday night, conquering the Manila traffic, and shouted out those who flew in from outside the capital city.
"I won't leave it at 7 years next time," Ed ended, mixing up how long it's been since he was in the Philippines. During the encore the singer performed "You Need Me, I Don't Need You," "Shape Of You" and "Bad Habits."
Other songs Ed performed were "Castle on the Hill," "Lego House," "Eyes Closed," "Give Me Love," "Galway Girl," "Sing," "Photograph," "Tenerife Sea," "Happier," "Perfect," and a surprise number with Ben&Ben's Miguel and Paolo Benjamin with the band's hit song "Maybe The Night."
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