Kiwi welcome for popular singer
Chart-topping singer Ed Sheeran was officially welcomed to the country with a po¯whiri at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland greeting the star before he started his six-date tour.
At the po¯whiri, ahead of his first show in Auckland, Sheeran shed some light on why Wellington had been left out of his touring agenda, despite it being one of his ‘‘top three favourite cities’’.
Sheeran said he chose to perform in Dunedin instead because of his own experience growing up in a town where musicians rarely visited. ‘‘I just really like going to places that people don’t usually tour,’’ he said.
While in Dunedin, the Perfect hitmaker said, he hoped to see the just-installed mural of himself.
He had been following news about the mural while he toured in Australia earlier this month, and on a whole he said he was pretty happy with it. ‘‘I’ve never had a mural, ever ... I had no say in the matter but I think the guy’s done a really good job.’’
His South Island fans may have gotten lucky, with the weather in Auckland proving to be less than ideal on Saturday afternoon.
The majority of the crowd who arrived early for the show came prepared, with rain ponchos and jackets an essential for the night.
The concert promoter said the poor weather forced a change to Sheeran’s show. ‘‘All three Auckland concerts will be affected, with necessary adjustments made to the staging and screens,’’ Frontier Touring said.
When the Auckland leg of his tour finishes tonight, Sheeran said, he plans to stop off in Wellington on the trip south.
‘‘I’ve got a few friends down there,’’ he said, but he wouldn’t comment on speculation he planned to catch up with filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson.
Sheeran arrived in the country early, having got tickets to the England-New Zealand cricket test on Friday night.
Hopefully, however, he had some more enjoyable activities planned for his time off between Monday and his first Dunedin show on Thursday.
The cricket would not have made pleasant viewing for the Englishman, with his side scoring only 58 runs in their first innings, and no play due to rain on Friday and Saturday.