Indian police turn off Ed Sheeran’s mic in the middle of a street concert

Ed Sheeran felt the long arm of the law while entertaining the masses during a break in his Mathematics Tour in India at the weekend.

The 33-year-old, who is halfway through his four-date stopover, decided to take his guitar out on the streets to busk for those who weren’t able to catch his shows at Bengaluru’s NICE Grounds at the weekend.

Ed was belting out his hit “Shape of You” on Church with a small crowd of onlookers singing along when a local police officer brought the impromptu show to an abrupt half, turning off the singer’s microphone and unplugging his amp.

“We had permission to do this. This policeman is shutting it down but we’ll see you later!” Sheeran told the crowd.

The British singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy winner has a small break in his itinerary before Wednesday’s gig at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, then Saturday’s concert at Leisure Valley Park in Delhi - his final appearance in India before heading over to China.

Why did Indian police pull the plug on Ed Sheeran’s street show?

Local authorities explained that while Sheeran had a license to perform in a public place through his concerts, that does not extend to the street. The issue of busking and street artists is murky in India due to various anti-beggary laws and other street performers have suffered similar treatment to Sheeran.

“He is a very famous singer and naturally there will be chaos. To prevent that, police had not given him permission,” Karnataka’s home minister G. Parameshwara said on Monday. “In spite of that, he has come and tried to perform, so police prevented him. Nothing beyond that.”

Sheeran however, insists that he did have permission to busk in that particular spot on Church Street. “We had permission to busk, by the way. Hence, us playing in that exact spot was planned out beforehand. It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though. See you at the show tonight x.” he wrote on Instagram.

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