Ed Sheeran Breaks Out ‘Sofa’ By Fan Request In Auckland

Ed Sheeran is letting fans play a role in deciding what songs he’ll play at each stop of his 2026 Loop Tour. Sheeran began the run on Friday with his first of two shows at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, which included his first performance of his early song “Sofa” since 2013.

The singer-songwriter is starting the trek down under with a series of stadium shows in New Zealand and Australia. Sheeran posted a story on Instagram before the opening gig, inviting fans to participate. “There’s five slots in the gig, where I’ll play any song that you guys decide. So whatever song you wanna hear at the gig, go look at the screen, text it, and it’ll basically tally up the songs, and I will play those songs,” Ed Sheeran said in the video message.

“Whatever the song is, I’ll learn it before the show. I’m prepared, so surprise me,” Sheeran added.

The Loop Tour production features a massive stage along with a much smaller B-Stage in the middle of the stadium. A metal bridge that moves connects the two stages and threw fans for a … loop when first unveiled early in Friday’s show. Ed Sheeran kicked off the night on the intimate circular platform with a performance of “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” from his debut album, +.

After the next six songs were played on the main stage, Sheeran returned to the B-Stage for “Eyes Closed” before offering a run that fulfilled fan requests. On Friday, the Brit broke out “Little Bird” for the first time since 2021 and followed with the aforementioned “Sofa,” a cut he originally released on his 2010 EP, Loose Change. Sheeran also performed “Tenerife Sea” and “Supermarket Flowers” during the fan-request segment. Sunday saw Sheeran play “Lego House,” “A Little More,” “Kiss Me,” “The City” and “Give Me Love” by request.

“The last time I played it was on the plus (+) tour in 2011 and 2012, around that time. So it’s been 15 years since I played this song. Whoever requested it, because there was a fair few of you, I hope you enjoy it. There will be a lot of people in this audience who may not even have heard the song. This is a song called ‘Sofa’ I wrote it 2008,” Sheeran said ahead of his “Sofa” performance.

The rest of Ed Sheeran’s setlists in Auckland featured a mix of career-spanning favorites and six tracks off his latest LP, Play. Irish folk band Beoga backed Sheeran for the bulk of each evening’s second Main Stage section.

Watch Ed Sheeran bust out “Sofa” in Auckland on Friday night thanks to the audience-shot footage below: