Credit: Getty

Ed Sheeran‘s Philadelphia concert, his first one back on tour following the Macklemore controversy, began with a political speech to address everything that happened in the past two weeks. The show later ended with an apology for using his platform to speak out on the issue.

While sitting on the floor of the stage and tearing up, Ed thanked fans for showing up to the concert on Saturday night (September 19) in Philadelphia, Penn.

“I’m so grateful,” he began in a video captured by Rolling Stone.

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“The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope. This gives hope. Thank you so much Philadelphia,” he said.

Ed then apologized for speaking out in front of his crowd and said that his shows are about people with “different beliefs” coming together to enjoy music.

“I hope you all have had fun. The one thing that I would like to apologize for is the first bit of the show where it wasn’t about music and I had to talk. I understand that people have children here and I understand that families did not buy a ticket to hear that first bit of the show. But that was something I felt like I needed to say. I felt that there were a lot of questions that I needed to answer. So to all the parents who brought their kids here tonight, thank you so much for bringing them and I do apologize for the first bit of the show. My shows are about this. They’re about unity, they’re about love, they’re about family. They’re about people coming together that don’t know each other that have different beliefs. You’re jumping around like maniacs with each other and having fun. And I will never stop doing this. I love doing this so much.”

Read the full transcript of Ed‘s speech from the beginning of the show.

During the show, Ed also addressed why he got rid of the “B” stage at his concert and introduced new band members after his previous backing band dropped out.

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