Sheeran and Michael Gudinski shared a strong bond,beyond their relationship as artist and promoter.Sheeran was at Gudinski’s state memorial service almost two years ago in Melbourne,and performed a song he wrote about his friend and mentor.

“Friday night will be the biggest ticketed concert in Australian history with over 107,000 people at the MCG,” Matt Gudinski said on Tuesday. “It’s spectacular,to have that happening at the home of music in Melbourne.

“To have over 100,000 people attending Ed’s concerts,both Thursday and Friday,is just amazing. It’s really special and he[Gudinski’s father] would have had a big smile on his face,knowing we’ve broken the attendance record and what’s been achieved by Ed on this tour.”

Frontier Touring production manager Travis Hogan said the “cutting edge” stage design being used on Sheeran’s tour was the first time the Cablenet system had been used for concert touring.

“It’s normally used for something like an Olympic Games,and means there are very few obstructions for the audience,the whole audience get an incredible view,” Hogan said.

He said Sheeran was “creatively involved in his own show” and had “an amazing design team that’s come up with this concept” of him performing in the round.

“It’s spectacular,and a big move away from what he’s always done ... this is a real artistic statement from a big artist.”

On his last Australian tour,Ed Sheeran sold more than a million concert tickets,breaking the previous record set by Dire Straits in 1986 when they sold 950,000 tickets.

Some of Australia’s biggest ticketed concerts have included Adele’s 2017 performance at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium which drew 98,364 people,Eminem’s 2019 concert at the MCG with 80,708 fans,Sound Relief at the MCG in 2009 with 80,518,Taylor Swift’s 2015 concert at ANZ Stadium with over 76,000,and Billy Joel’s concert at the MCG last year with 76,339 fans.

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