By Wal Reid

Artist:  The Script

Date / Venue:  Tuesday May 5th, Vector Arena, Auckland

It was a reunion of sorts for Auckland and The Script lads - Danny O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power making up for the lost time since they were here last, with O'Donoghue adding ‘how similar Auckland looks like Dublin' when they landed, the candour of his rapport with the audience a touching sentiment.

Resembling a hard rock outfit than a pop band, the Irish rockers immediately took to winning the boisterous Auckland crowd, Insta-stalkers with phones ready to catch that glimpse of their favourite band, as the giant screens projected the band making their entrance into the Vector all adding to the hype while Danny came from the back surrounded by green luminous flags. The entrance was more akin to a Las Vegas boxing fight than a music concert but was pretty cool, even I felt a flutter. 

As he made his way to the front the band ripped into Paint the Town Green, full of Irish pride they ploughed into Hail, Rain or Sunshine of their latest album before O'Donoghue cajoled the crowd to ‘get ready for a sing-a-long', as the familiar bars of Breakeven (Falling to Pieces) shot out across the Vector sending the throng of concert goers into a frenzy, especially when he broke out the All Blacks jersey throwing rugby balls into the crowd.

Having been a bit of a fan of their breakout singles a couple of years back Breakeven & The Man Who Can't Be Moved, I was looking forward to hearing how well their songs translated in a live milieu, however the Vector hoodoo wasn't haven't a bar of it, as the sometimes muddy sound frequently compromised my Script experience. The audience were well and truly catered for as the boys appeased fans with their well-known radio hits, songs like Superheroes, Six Degrees of Separation & Good ol' Days brought the crowd to their feet, while guitarist Mark Sheehan warned the audience about being careful what you write, as you may have to face your fears when making a music video as they launched into the lull of the catchy Man On a Wire. 

One niggle I will bring up is that I found their songs almost suffering repetition, sure it's nit-picking but sometimes it was like listening to the same song from two songs back, their earlier songs when starting out had balls compared to their latest twee pop hits that sound more at home on a Coke commercial. However The Script more than make up for this with their live show which I couldn't fault, their use of multimedia and interacting with the audience was top notch, best show performance wise or visually I've seen in ages.

Anyway, enough said, personal highlights included the single Nothing while ringing a member of the audience's ex-boyfriend called Jacob who is now immortalised as the person who was called "a shithead" by The Script. O'Donoghue's escapades walking through the audience on You Won't Feel a Thing with a camera beaming to the giant screens suited the song while the crowd got stuck in taking selfies with the lanky Irish singer.

My fave part was the intimate acoustic set performed at the back of the Vector on a smaller stage, where Danny preached about how the trio bunked it rough at the start, and a song that introduced them to the Script Family worldwide musing "we all love fucking music" before their next song an acoustic treatment ofThe Man Who Can't Be Moved made room for the climatic ending of Hall of Fame, complete with glitter raining down on the spent but gratified Vector crowd.

Seems like NZ may have found a couple of fans in The Script, mark my words they'll be back and we'll be here waiting