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Ed Sheeran’s Surprise St. Patrick’s Day Gig

BBG News

Ed Sheeran delighted fans with an impromptu open-air gig in New Orleans – after bad weather put paid to a planned St Patrick’s Day parade.

Sheeran, 34, was in the spiritual home of jazz at the weekend and teamed up with local brass band The Soul Rebels for the 30-minute session.

The group – who recently teamed up with Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl for the halftime show – provided backing for some of the singer’s own songs, as well as covers.

Sheeran – famous for smash hits such as Perfect and Shape of You – then delighted the crowd when he announced he would play a new song from his upcoming album called Azizam.

He said: ‘We’re gonna do one song here – we’re filming a bit of content – and then we’re going to do a parade and walk down and play some songs, if you want to come with us.

‘I’ve got a new song coming in a couple weeks that no one’s heard. This will be the first time it’s ever been played live.

‘We’ll play it once now and then we’ll walk down, play some songs that you know, and I’ll play this song again. Thanks for coming out. It’s nice to be back here.’

The person, wearing a tie-dyed shirt and blue grey cargo pants, faced the Soul Rebels and asked: ‘Ready to give it a try?’

Holidaymaker Tom Horn, 22, from Cornwall, who was on the last day of a family break, was among the lucky few to see the impromptu gig.

Tom, the PR executive, shared with TopMob that the closing moments of his vacation were simply fantastic. He’s a huge admirer, and being able to witness and listen to [the person] so closely, not to mention it was completely free, was truly amazing!

‘There had been a St Patrick’s Day parade planned for the Saturday but apparently it was cancelled so Ed playing more than made up for it.

‘We were there completely by chance and saw the crowds and wandered up to take a look and were amazed to see Ed singing and dancing with a brass band.

It appears he was sharing mysterious hints about his presence, and it looked like he had a group with him who were filming. Additionally, the streets were being blocked off by security personnel.

However, the ambiance was lively, and everyone joined in on the spirit of it all. A thunderous applause erupted when he concluded, and the audience continued to clap enthusiastically.

He gave a wave to the crowd, climbed into a police vehicle, and sped away, but spotting him was an exhilarating experience and quite a delightful surprise.

At one point as he played, Sheeran whipped out his mobile phone and filmed the crowd while trying to control a red heart shaped ballon attached to a suitcase amp he was wheeling.

Sheeran sang “I Don’t Care” while his film crew captured the scene on camera. He took a moment to give high-fives to some fans and then carried on with “Don’t”.

He rounded off the gig by playing ‘Shape of You’ but not before inviting the crowd to ‘join in with a sing a long’.

Among the fans, one was particularly overjoyed when Ed Sheeran personally signed his guitar as a unique present.

Grayton Hoffman, 11, who has Down Syndrome, made his Holy Communion last year on the day Sheeran played New Orleans and went to see him at the Jazz Fest as a present.

On Friday evening, his mother, Cherisse Hoffman, noticed a social media post from Ed Sheeran regarding the upcoming event, so she took him there, carrying an acoustic guitar with them.

Upon Sheeran’s arrival in a darkened SUV, he noticed Hoffman playing his guitar, accompanied by a bodyguard. The guard then retrieved the instrument and handed it over to Sheeran.

After that, Sheeran requested his bodyguard to invite Cherisse into the SUV to confirm the spelling of Grayton’s name. Then, he signed it saying: ‘Grayton, play this guitar!’ in his own handwriting.

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2025-03-17 22:44

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