NOT satisfied with two sell-out arena gigs just more than one year ago, Ed Sheeran was back this weekend for a bigger bite of the North-Eastern cherry.

A whopping 150,000 people flooded the roads into Newcastle over three nights to make it on time for the singer-songwriter’s stadium stop-off at St James’ Park.

In fact, demand was so high for those gold-dust tickets that the solo star added his third date after selling out his Friday and Saturday fixtures.

On opening night, the stadium was awash with fans sporting Sheeran T-shirts, bedecked with glitter or dressed to the nines.

And while they may have been orderly, they produced a deafening noise as the ginger-haired, scruffy singer walked out onto the stage.

Wearing nothing fancy - jeans, a black T-shirt over a plain, long-sleeved top and a pair of Air Yeezy 2s - the understated star delivered another run-through of his third album.

Divide had only been released a month before his last visit to the region.

This, he said, meant the audience despite their best efforts struggled to sing along to the extent the chart-topper is used to.

But this year was different. The atmosphere was more electric, the volume was ramped up and his lyrics rang out from the mouths of the estimated 50,000-strong crowd.

He encouraged us – and even the two per cent of reluctant boyfriends and super dads - to let ourselves loose, dance like nobody’s watching, clap, jump and scream as he turned layers of sound into familiar favourites…The A Team, Thinking Out Loud and Shape of You.

Just like last time, and every time, he alone entertained. One man, a guitar and a nifty loop station.

Flossie Mainwaring-Taylor