The Script plus support from Tom Walker

The opener tonight is none other than Tom Walker, which is a nice bonus for all here. It was clear from the quite full arena floor, which is unusual for the support act, that obviously most know at least one if not many more Walker numbers, and he seems far more confident on stage than when he first broke through with ‘Leave A Light On’. Tonight, he is in fine voice and with only the usual 30 minutes, he had the crowd enthralled and singing along, loudly. We will be counting the days until we get to see Tom Walker with a full set.

Last time we saw The Script it was at the much smaller venue of Wolverhampton, The Halls. It was very soon after losing Mark Sheehan, and it obviously affected them. They weren’t the same big smiling, laughing, playful band we have seen previously, but they seem to have their spark back tonight, and on the back of an excellent album, ‘Satellites’, they gave the attendees a night to savour. The band have always tried to interact with the crowd as much as possible, and tonight they actually started the gig half way into the arena on a small stage, with Danny O’Donoghue wearing a long black coat over a bright red shirt, straight away you got the feeling that they were firing on all cylinders banging out, ‘You Won’t Feel A Thing’, ‘Superheroes’ and ‘Rain’, what a start! With the band now on the mainstage, they continued their assault. Danny already pouring with sweat, with a striking black and white striped background, ripping through song after song, before slowing down the pace with an emotional tribute to their late friend, Mark Sheehan, and going on to play, ‘If You Could See Me Now’. There were a few tears in the arena, before they returned to the smaller stage for a couple more numbers.

And back they went to the mainstage, performing ‘Paint The Town Green’, to celebrate their Irish heritage, with the arena bathed in green light, very striking, and Danny playing a traditional drum, great fun. They finished with an encore of ‘Home Is Where The Hurt Is’, ‘Breakeven’ and finally a storming version of ‘Hall Of Fame’. What a night and proving once again that The Script are one of the best arena live acts around. We must take a second to mention the visual effects and staging, they were phenomenal, outstanding and any other words you could use – WOW.

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe