Ed Sheeran Cancels Both Gillette Stadium Shows as Nor’easter Hits New England

Ed Sheeran’s two concerts at Gillette Stadium have been canceled as a powerful nor’easter moves toward New England, ending a turbulent week in which the shows had already become the center of a dispute over lineup changes and ticket refunds.

The Loop Tour was scheduled to play the Foxborough, Massachusetts, stadium Friday, Sept. 25 and Saturday, Sept. 26. Stadium and tour officials made the cancellation decision after monitoring forecasts with public safety officials, according to a statement provided by a representative for New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft.

“The decision was made with the safety of fans, staff and everyone involved in the shows as the top priority,” the statement said.

Refunds are available through the original point of purchase, while fans who bought through Ticketmaster will be refunded automatically. It was not immediately clear whether either concert could eventually be rescheduled.

The cancellation substantially changes the refund situation surrounding the two concerts just one day after the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced that Ticketmaster had agreed to provide refunds in advance to customers who no longer wanted to attend.

Under that arrangement, buyers were required to contact Ticketmaster and request their refunds at least 24 hours before showtime. The Attorney General’s Office said it had pressed for the accommodation after receiving consumer complaints tied to major changes to the lineup originally advertised for the Gillette concerts.

TicketNews had reported a day earlier that some Gillette ticket holders were already successfully obtaining refunds after contacting Ticketmaster, despite there being no broad public announcement informing buyers that they were available. The Attorney General’s subsequent intervention formalized that process.

Now that the concerts themselves have been canceled, Ticketmaster customers no longer need to make those requests within the earlier deadline and instead are due automatic refunds.

Cancellation Follows Weeks of Loop Tour Turmoil

The refund dispute grew out of changes to Sheeran’s Loop Tour after Macklemore was removed from his remaining stadium support dates.

Macklemore had drawn controversy after using his sets at two MetLife Stadium concerts to speak in support of Palestinians and perform his protest song “Hind’s Hall.” Kraft subsequently acknowledged personally asking Sheeran to consider removing Macklemore from the Gillette Stadium concerts because of concerns from members of the Jewish community, while disputing Macklemore’s allegation that Kraft organized a broader effort among stadium owners to force him off the tour.

Messina Touring Group separately confirmed that multiple venues had told the promoter they would not allow upcoming concerts to proceed with Macklemore on the lineup. The promoter ultimately removed him from the remaining stadium dates.

Other performers subsequently withdrew from the tour, including Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe, while Sheeran collaborators Beoga also departed. Sheeran went ahead with last weekend’s Philadelphia concert without the originally advertised support lineup and used the show to question whether venues should be able to exercise that degree of control over artists appearing on their stages.

The Gillette concerts nevertheless remained scheduled throughout that controversy and until Friday’s weather cancellation.

Storm Also Disrupted Oceans Calling

Sheeran’s concerts are not the first major live events affected by the coastal storm.

TicketNews reported Thursday that Oceans Calling canceled the entire Friday portion of its three-day festival in Ocean City, Maryland, after persistent coastal weather and beach erosion prevented crews from safely completing construction of the beachfront festival site.

Friday’s canceled lineup included Dave Matthews Band, Hootie & the Blowfish, Ludacris, O.A.R., Yellowcard and Shaggy, among others. At the time of that announcement, the festival’s Saturday and Sunday programs remained scheduled.

The National Weather Service says the developing nor’easter is bringing significant coastal impacts across both the Mid-Atlantic and New England through the weekend, including heavy rain, strong winds, high surf and the potential for moderate to major coastal flooding.

For Sheeran, the weather cancellation brings an abrupt end to two concerts that had spent the preceding week at the center of an entirely separate fight over venue control, a substantially altered supporting lineup and whether fans who purchased tickets before those changes should be allowed to get their money back.

Those buyers will now get that answer regardless of the earlier dispute: the Gillette shows are off, and Ticketmaster purchasers are set to be automatically refunded.

Sheeran’s Loop Tour is currently scheduled to resume Oct. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.