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'Ed Sheeran opening for Ed Sheeran': Fans amused as singer fills in for injured Khalid after accident

Ed Sheeran performed in the opening act of his Mathematics Tour after the original opener Khalid met with a car accident

LANDOVER, MARYLAND: Ed Sheeran performed as his own opener in his Mathematics Tour concert at the FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on June 24. The ‘Shape Of You’ singer took the stage early to open the set wearing a simple attire comprising a white tee shirt and dark trousers. Sheeran then informed his befuddled audience about the unfortunate incident that necessitated that he take the stage.

The ‘Perfect’ singer revealed that the original opener, Khalid, met with an accident earlier in the week, and he had to fill in. Sheeran also shared that the ‘Eastside’ singer was recovering and wished him the best by saying, "[Khalid] was in a car accident this week, he's recovering and we wish him the best.”

However, instead of canceling the opening act, he took it upon himself to give his audience their money’s worth and played 30 minutes for the opening act. In a humorous way, he also suggested there could have been “more fireworks” had Khalid played the set as originally planned. But, as Sheeran held the stage as a one man army, fans could not help but join him in making fun of the peculiar situation.

‘And now I get to see everyone’

As a true performer, Sheeran rolled with the punches and gifted his fans with numerous tracks which would generally not be in his original tracklist. The ‘Castle on the Hill’ singer played several songs from his latest album ‘Subtract’ that released on May 5. He also lightened the atmosphere by joking that the concert-goers would see him in two outfits - two unassuming black and white tees. Sheeran joked, “I’m really pulling out the stops tonight.”

He further added that it felt good to “see everyone” as he got the stage early. “Usually when I start playing it’s like pitch black, and now I get to see everyone. It’s awesome," he said, adding, "This is pretty fun," as per Complex. He revealed, "I kind of feel like when you're the main act, there's a bunch of pressure because people have paid to see you but I feel like when you're the opening act you're sort of like, 'Let's have fun. Let's play songs.'"

'Shows how dedicated he is'

Social media users were amused by the interesting situation Sheeran had at hand. Sharing the program list, one fan said, "Ed is going to be his own opener cause Khalid got into a car accident… this audience is REALLY lucky (Khalid is ok that’s why I’m saying this)." Another fan shared their own experience of the concert, writing, "Yesterday I experienced Ed Sheeran opening for Ed Sheeran and what an iconic time." Another fan seemed to find the incident funny as they said, "Ik i joke about hating ed sheeran all the time but him coming out and opening for himself when khalid couldn’t open is so funny and shows how dedicated he is."

Someone lese chimed in, "Ed sheeran opening his own concert is so wild to me but also I kinda wish he had done that at every stop, because subtract is goood." Sharing a clip of the "Main act Ed" returning to the stage after the "opening act Ed" left, a fan said, "“Main act Ed” returning to the FedEx field stage after “opening act Ed” performed as Khalid recovers from an accident. Yes people thought we are nuts and I told some on floor still staring at the tunnel when countdown had seconds left, to turn around as @edsheeran was on stage!" Another summed it up simply, "Ed Sheeran is the opening act for Ed Sheeran!!"

Someone made perfect use of a very familiar Spiderman meme, by posting, "@edsheeran and his opening act."

A concert goer shared an anecdote, "I saw ed sheeran tonight and one of his opening acts couldn't make it so he did a lil subtract set so when he did his actual set he played a song he hadn't played on this tour before and someone behind me said "surprise song ed edition"." Another audience member was praising Sheeran for his generosity, "I hope khalid gets well soon but there is something incredible and surreal about ed sheeran opening for himself and getting to hear songs that wouldn’t have been in his set #EdSheeran."