Ed Sheeran: Sheffield artists KDot and Coco join superstars DJ AG and JME for surprise city centre gig

The Shape Of You hitmaker thrilled hundreds of fans with a three hour-long set on the steps of the Town Hall last night (May 19).

The Halifax-born singer-songwriter gave the public just one hour’s notice by announcing his arrival on Instagram.

However, in every way, Ed played the part of support artist on Sunday night while giving a platform to Sheffield artists and young talent, with teenagers as young as 13 joining him ‘on stage.’

He was joined by TikTok sensation DJ AG, who was named TimeOut’s Londoner of the Year 2024, who himself promised the first eight artists in Sheffield who “brought a USB” with their own music would get to perform.

The night was in support of TRACKS, a Sheffield based music school, who also debuted a new single’ Spotlight’ written by seven of their students.

It comes after Ed and his foundation awarded TRACKS three years worth of funding in February this year.

Other artists involved yesterday included Sheffield based artists Coco and KDot, both of whom have played Tramlines, as well as UK rappers Skinz and Trixy Bang.

Other famous faces included NorthernBwoy, big name British grime artist JME, and 18-year-old Harris Lihe, who performed at Tramlines last year alongside the Leadmill Studio Orchestra and Pattern & Push and recently appeared on Claudia Winkleman’s The Piano.

Meanwhile, in the crowd, The Star ran into one superfan with a bit of history with megastar Ed.

Alfie Sheard made headlines in 2017 when a video of him busking aged just 15 on the streets of Doncaster was seen by millions of people.

The clip saw Alfie flown out to America to appear on the Elle DeGeneres Show, where he was presented with a guitar signed by Ed along with a video message from the star himself.

Today, Alfie has over 163,000 followers on Instagram, and was at the gig in Sheffield last night with the signed guitar in hand.

He told The Star: “I actually heard he was coming to Sheffield a few days ago through the grapevine. When I got here at 7pm, there was already like a thousand people here.

“It’s crazy to see - it’s nice to have something here in Sheffield like this.”