Photo by Rylie Trott
Last weekend, the pop-rock trio from Dublin, Ireland, visited London’s O2 Arena as part of their ‘No Sound Without Silence’ tour commemorating their latest album. The album peaked at number one in the album chart in England and Ireland in September 2014, following in the successful footsteps of their previous three albums. Starting in January and finishing in June, The Script will perform fifty-five shows across twenty-seven countries including the United States, South Africa, and Japan.
Photo by Rylie Trott
Supported by Brit award-winning rap artist Tinie Tempah, the boys took to the stage of the O2 Arena and entertained fans with eighteen songs covering all four albums. The presence of their Irish heritage was immediately brought to the stage as they were led alongside the standing pit by people holding luminous green flags, commencing the concert with ‘Paint the Town Green’ which celebrates St. Patrick’s Day. After kicking off the set with such a high-energy song, the band went on to perform some of their most-loved hits including ‘Before the Worst’, ‘Breakeven’, and ‘Superheroes’. Many fans were delighted that the ritual performance of the song ‘Nothing’ was brought back after having received complaints about its omission from earlier shows in the tour. As seen during previous tours, frontman Danny O’Donoghue asked for someone in the front row to phone an ex so he could sing the break-up song to them.
Photo by Rylie Trott
The fans in the front rows of the standing pit were not the only lucky audience members, however. The Script ensured every fan got the best seat in the house when they slowed their set-list down and moved to a second stage toward the back of the venue. Hands were swaying and lit-up phone screens were in the air as the show took a more romantic turn with the performance of ‘Never Seen Anything “Quite Like You”’, followed by a trip down memory lane with their very first single that shot them into stardom in 2008, ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’. Beginning with a slowed down, acoustic version, both the tempo and emotions heightened as fans sung the lyrics back to Danny, overpowering his voice completely.
Photo by Rylie Trott
Not one opportunity was missed to thank the thousands of fans in attendance for supporting them since 2008. En route to the original stage, Danny took a detour via the bottom block of seating like someone trying to go to the toilet during a theatre show; sliding past between rows instead of using the aisles, and stopping to take selfies with fans along the way as he sung ‘You Won’t Feel a Thing’. Fans were treated to an encore set, featuring the songs ‘For The First Time’ and their latest single ‘No Good in The Goodbye’, and rounded off by their ultimate uplifting hit ‘Hall of Fame’. The closing number saw the crowd sprinkled by a rain of silver and white confetti, including a handful of plectrums thrown by guitarist Mark Sheehan.