AEG Presents SVP of international touring Simon Jones details the logistics of Sheeran’s historic shows in Bhutan and India

Ed Sheeran’s groundbreaking tour stops in South Asia have helped pave the way for other artists to visit the region, promoter Simon Jones tells IQ.

Sheeran, who is represented by agent Jon Ollier of One Fiinix Live, brought his globe-trotting – +–=÷× (Mathematics) Tour to six cities in India between 30 January and 15 February for his biggest-ever run in the country, organised by AEG Presents Asia and BookMyShow Live.

The dates were preceded by the 34-year-old Brit’s bow in Bhutan, where he made history as the first-ever international artist to perform in the Buddhist kingdom on the Himalayas’ eastern edge.

Jones, AEG’s SVP of international touring, details how the latter gig – which took place at the 23,000-cap Changlimithang Stadium in the country’s capital, Thimphu, on 24 January – became a reality.

“We were in a bar in Mumbai with Ed and [manager] Stuart Camp the night before his sold out Mumbai show at Mahalaxmi Race Course last year. And he said that he was having such a great time in India that he wanted to come back properly, and do a full tour; in as many places as possible,” recalls Jones. “Our eyes widened when we realised he was being deadly serious, so we took his word for it, went away and delivered one.”

He adds: “My partner on Ed’s tours in Asia, [newly promoted AEG Presents, Europe and Asia-Pacific president/CEO] Adam Wilkes, had built a new relationship with the Bhutan government and Royal Family, and since Covid they have wanted to open up their country more and become a tourism destination, and they had a strong will to attract some major artists to come and play their country.

“They have significant global ambitions, all whilst maintaining their integrity and remarkable status of the worlds first carbon-negative country. After numerous discussions, we explored the options with them and presented it to Jon Ollier and Stuart Camp.”

“The King of Bhutan said that he wanted Ed to be the first international artist to perform in Bhutan”

Tickets started from US$10, although tourists attending the concert had to pay Bhutan’s Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) – a $100 daily levy designed to help preserve the country’s unique environment and culture.

“There were lots of logistical hurdles the team had to work through to take on something this ambitious,” notes Jones. “The country is the most mountainous country in the world set amongst the Himalayan mountains, but there’s a lot of trust within the team that we knew that we could all collectively pull it off.

“After many months of planning, and once everyone was in market, and the shows were happening, the whole team truly appreciated how much of an important event it was for Bhutan. Everyone was a part of history. The King of Bhutan said that he wanted Ed to be the first international artist to perform in Bhutan, as he shares the same values as Ed, which is a beautiful thing.”

Sheeran continued to break boundaries as the outing switched to India for stops in Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Shillong and Delhi, playing to more than 120,000 fans. While the singer-songwriter had previously played Mumbai in 2015 and 2017, Jones was convinced a multi-market tour was a viable proposition.

“Wherever Ed wants to go, however unique and ambitious it may sound, we’ll go and deliver it for him, as his partner,” he explains. “This feat had never been done before by an international artist, of this scale with an artist of this magnitude. We were all charting new ground; that’s AEG, Ed and our partners Ashish Hemrajani and Naman Pugalia at BookMyShow [BMS].

“Ed wanted to return as soon as possible after his Mumbai show and to cover as much ground as was feasible. He wanted to take his music to interior India, and we’re glad he did, as the positive impact that the tour has had is going to be felt for a long time. That’s why Stuart Camp and Jon Ollier have been such great partners over the years for us. And also what makes Stuart such a great manager; his unwavering support of Ed’s vision is why he has steered such a successful ship for all of his career, developing so many markets that many other artists do not even think of.”

“We have been hit up by managers and agents asking us how we achieved it, and how they want to replicate it”

Despite hosting the largest stadium shows of the 21st century last month with Coldplay’s two 111,000-cap Music of the Spheres World Tour gigs at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India’s prime minister recently spoke of the country’s need to improve its infrastructure to maximise its concert economy, while BMS’ Hemrajani likened the current state of India’s entertainment framework to building an airline without an airport.

Nevertheless, Hemrajani says Sheeran’s visit shows the India market at-large has “come of age”.

“The success and expanse of the tour puts the spotlight on India as a country where major artists can successfully tour multiple cities, much like in other critical must-play global markets anywhere in the world,” he says.

Jones shares his personal experiences of the challenges involved.

“Bengaluru is a fast developing market, and so is New Delhi, but some way behind Mumbai,” he says. “There is infrastructure in the major cities, but building and trucking an outdoor stadium show in Shillong and outdoor sites in remote cities like Chennai, is unfathomably challenging. You can’t easily get replacement parts for when things go wrong, and you can’t very easily come across additional expertise. So when you’re faced with issues, you need a very flexible and understanding artist team, which thankfully Ed’s team are, and also a very equipped promoter and partner team, which our AEG and BMS teams are.

“With all of that said, there were many recces undertaken to ensure we were as prepared as possible with the best possible team working on it.”

He continues: “I see many artists wanting to take the leap into playing multi-city interior India tours, now that Ed has paved the way showing that it can work. We have been hit up by managers and agents asking us how we achieved it, and how they want to replicate it. It’s all positive.”

“In Shillong, India, there were so many challenges thrown at us, some that threatened to derail the entire show”

The Arthur Award-winning promoter, who namechecks colleagues Shine Zhou (VP, AEG Presents Asia), Bryan Mosko (tour director) and Dan Mosley (head of production) for their “tireless” efforts on the shows, ranks the Bhutan and Shillong dates – the latter of which saw Sheeran draw close to 30,000 fans to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium – among his career highlights.

“The stadium shows in Bhutan and in Shillong will both be a core memory for me for decades to come,” he says. “I sent many messages to people dropping a pin of my location to show exactly how remote these shows were.

“The Bhutan stadium show was emotional for many reasons not just because of the crescendo of how much work had gone in by everyone on our collective teams to make happen, but primarily because of how plainly obvious how important the show was for the country and its future.

“And in Shillong, India, there were so many challenges thrown at us, some that threatened to derail the entire show, and the collective will to ensure the show happened, made for an ever more special show. I think I have aged ten years in the past three weeks!”

The – +–=÷× Tour also encompassed six sell-out shows in Hangzhou from 24 February-2 March – marking Sheeran’s first visit to mainland China in a decade, which wrapped up last night. Next, he heads to the Middle East for dates at the inaugural Off-Limits Festival in Abu Dhabi (26 April), Lusail Multipurpose Hall in Doha, Qatar (30 April) and Beyon Al Dana Amphitheatre in Sakhir, Bahrain (2 May), prior to a catalogue of European gigs from May to August.

Last year saw the hitmaker set multiple ticket sales records the world over, with destinations including Bahrain, the UAE, India, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Baltic States, Malta, Romania and Cyprus.

“It’s something that he’s always wanted to do,” Ollier told IQ in late 2024. “It’s a gift we’ve been given to be able to do it, because not a lot of people can go and play all of those places. We have to plan these things years in advance and potentially doing it right in the midst of the cost of living crisis and war in Europe and all the rest of it, was incredibly challenging.

“If we’d have had more foresight, you’d perhaps sidestep these things, but we went and did it and it was a great success. It is key to his vision, because he wants to get as far and wide and visit as many fans as he possibly can.”