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Tickets for Sheeran ’ s Mathematics Tour went on sale on 25 September 2021 and sold so strongly that new stadium dates were swiftly added , with the UK leg including four dates at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium , two at Belfast ’ s Boucher Road Playing Fields ( 42,000 ), four at Manchester ’ s Etihad Stadium ( 63,000 ) and three at the Principality Stadium ( 74,500 ) in Cardiff .
On the back of more than 1 million tickets having been sold for the Mathematics Tour , it was action stations again for Tilley and the team early this year after Sheeran announced that he would release new album Subtract in May . To support it , a string of surprise underplays were organised in March that saw Sheeran perform at The O2 , AO Arena , OVO Hydro and Eventim Apollo .
“ Obviously to have Ed again this year was a very pleasant surprise ,” says Tilley . “ It was a very short turnaround between announcing the shows and having them go on sale , but it was incredible .”
There have been numerous other highlights during Tilley ’ s work with Sheeran , not least shows at St James ’ Park stadium , Newcastle United ’ s home ground , where Tilley was a
Sam Fender at St James ’ Park
Stadium
Photo : Niall Lea
Sam Fender
Photo : Dan Broadley season ticket holder during the 1990s . In June this year Tilley returned to the venue for two shows by Sam Fender that saw him become the first Geordie artist to headline the 55,000-capacity venue .
“ I ’ m an expat Geordie and Newcastle United fan so putting Ed Sheeran on there was one of the proudest things I ’ ve done . If someone had told me I ’ d come back and present a Geordie there I ’ d have never believed it . It was a very emotional weekend for me , my family was there with me , and the atmosphere was absolutely amazing ,” he says .
The shows proved landmark moments in a busy year for
Congratulations to
Kilimanjaro on this impressive 15-year milestone ! At Quietus we ’ re proud to have been in business with Kilimanjaro for so long . It is always a pleasure working with the talented and dedicated team there , and fantastic to see their hard work and expertise play out in the successful touring activity of our artists .
– Quietus Management Ian Grenfell
Kilimanjaro , which has involved concerts by a diverse array of acts including Lewis Capaldi , Don Broco , Cat Burns , Hans Zimmer and The Cult . The team may have its hands full but Tilley says he is somewhat relieved that the workflow is not as intense as it was in 2022 .
“ Kilimanjaro Live did in excess of 800 gigs last year , that ’ s at all levels from pub to stadium shows ,” he says . “ We coped , our staff are amazing , it ’ s down to them that the company had such an amazing year . They all went the extra mile to help us achieve it .”
Tilley was instrumental in helping set up Irish concert and event organiser Singular Artists in 2020 – a joint venture with promoters Fin O ’ Leary , Brian Hand and Simon Merriman , in which Kilimanjaro Live holds a 55 % stake . He also has a strong day-to-day working relationship with Regular Music CEO Mark Mackie who has continued to oversee the Edinburgh-based concert and festival promoter since it was acquired by Kilimanjaro in December last year .
Also under the Kilimanjaro banner are two in-house promoting arms that focus on specific genres ; Kili Presents and Action ! Presents . Kili Presents is dedicated to promoting
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