Ian West Ian West

ED SHEERAN IS due to play a special intimate gig at Whelan’s later this month.

The singer-songwriter – whose most recent Dublin gigs were four consecutive nights at the 14,500-capacity 3Arena last October – will play to just 400 fans on January 24. It’s for a VH1 Storytellers Live TV broadcast.

After the news emerged on Wednesday, Irish fans have been besieging the venue and Sheeran’s management team for further info about tickets.

Whelan’s have even taken the step of asking fans to stop calling and emailing them for updates.

So what do we know? According to the venue, Sheeran’s manager, and other sources:

• The gig itself will likely involve Ed Sheeran telling the personal stories behind his songs, as per VH1 Storytellers tradition.
• There’ll be at least 24 hours notice before the ticketing process begins. According to Whelan’s, they won’t be released without notice.
• Tickets will not be on open sale. Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp has said this repeatedly on Twitter – suggesting that free places are more likely to be made available through an application process, as with most TV audiences.
• It’s likely to be open to people in Ireland only. Again according to Stuart Camp. 
• It won’t be first come first in. So there’s no point setting up your tent outside Whelan’s just yet.
• Also, tickets will not be allocated – as some have speculated – based on the fan videos for Thinking Out Loud which Sheeran asked his followers to submit.
• More information is due to be released later today.
• If you can’t get tickets, the gig will be broadcast on VH1 at midnight on Friday January 24.

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