My god, what a week it was for the people of Northern Ireland. From the Balmoral Show, to Ed Sheeran to the return of the North West 200… but that just wasn’t enough! As the good people of Belfast saw the return of regular visitors, The Script, who kicked off their “Tales From The Script” UK/Ireland tour in the SSE Arena.
British pop sensation Ella Henderson kicked off the night, gliding onto the stage in her bright pink and orange suit. Despite a muddy sound mix, Ella and her fantastic group of musicians put on a rather energetic set, performing such classics as “Risk It All” and “Ghosts.” All of which warmed up the crowd’s vocal chords for what was to come!
It wasn’t longer before them 3-rowdy-lads from Dublin exploded onto the stage… literally exploded as confetti coated the entire arena! Lead singer Danny O’Donoghue was just beaming from ear to ear, showing how much the band had missed performing live since the pandemic as they thundered through “Superheroes” and “We Cry.”
As “Paint The Town Green” rang out, it didn’t long for the boys to make their way into the crowd and onto their soundboard stage. Blasting away their loud lambeg drums and bodhrans. You can tell they were happy just being back amongst the Northern Irish faithful, soaking the voices as they sang along to “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved.”
It was no sooner than when they were on their mini stage, till when they were back out into the crowd… actually performing IN the crowd. How they were able to get mic stands and guitars up in the SSE stands and make it work, I have no idea but they made it work with intimate tracks such as “If You Could See Me Now” and “Never Seen Anything Quite Like You.”
I just want to take this moment to mention how outstanding The Script’s stage production was for this tour. The stage set up was gorgeous – with large pillars of lights, one gigantic screen and confetti cannons galore. Danny even joked about how they spent all that money on the stage, but they spent more time in the crowd.
Their biggest commercial tracks “Breakeven” and “Hall Of Fame” brought night-one of their Belfast dates to a close, with our wee town begging for more and more. The one thing that was evident throughout the night was how much everyone had missed this following the pandemic. Not just the band but the crowd as well, as they gave these Dublin heroes all the love they deserved.
Review & Photography: Marc Leach