April 17th, 2015. The Mall of Asia Arena was teeming with fans who had waited weeks upon weeks for the return of Dublin-based trio, The Script.
Before long, the arena was plunged into darkness to deafening screams as the band made their entrance from the audience area flanked by carriers of huge green flags. The time had come to Paint the Town Green.
Frontman Danny O’Donoghue led the audience in a left-right-and-center screaming match that left ears ringing before launching into Hail, Rain or Sunshine and transitioning to the massive hit, Breakeven.
“It’s a big big honor to be here again!” Danny told the crowd, “You guys have made us feel like the biggest f&%king band on the planet!”
Manila’s warm reception outdid itself for the song Superheroes, dedicated by the band to “anybody who’s going through hard times right now.” It was to no one’s surprise that everyone knew and sang every word at the top of their lungs. What was a breath of fresh air was the collective feeling of nothing but pure positivity that the song’s message elicited from the crowd.
“You guys look absolutely gorgeous.” said a smiling Danny after orchestrating an old fashioned singalong for We Cry. Notable at this point of the show was If You Could See Me Now, a song known to be dedicated to the late father of Danny as well as guitarist Mark Sheehan’s parents. The band’s moving delivery was bounced back to them by an enthralled audience who would not be daunted even by the fastest of rap segments.
Mark then shared a bit of advice with future songwriters in the audience:
“Be careful what songs you write,” he warned in front of screenshots from Man on a Wire onscreen. “Cause you’ll have to make a music video for it. I’m really really scared of heights and this song is inspired by that fear, that irrational fear of heights.”
The picture of Irish grit, the band dropped jaws and raised eyebrows for a moment by addressing the audience in the front to have security lighten up. “Are you guys okay there in the front? Cause security is looking like a pain the ass.” they said to appreciative cheers. “Let them enjoy themselves. We came all this way to have a good time!”
Danny continued to shake things up by issuing a dare to the crowd– “Call an ex and let us speak to them.”
Phones practically flew onstage as front row members scrambled to call their former flames. One lucky fan was chosen and Danny swept up the phone to speak with him and asked him to stay on the line for the song Nothing.
“Many people here think you’re an a$&hole.” he mischievously told the boy on the phone. The final nail in the proverbial coffin– Danny ended the song and the call by having the entire arena yell “Goodbye, a&$hole!” — truly a moment we never imagined we’d see that night.
A brief interval brought the band to the B-Stage where they stood in a circle to perform Never Seen Anything “Quite Like You” and The Man Who Can’t Be Moved.
“You guys have given us –no joke– one of the best nights of our tour!” intimated Danny before leaving the stage. “That’s the power of music, it’s there for you no matter what.”
Just as fans began to wonder where he had gone, yelling erupted from the lower box section of the Arena as Danny reappeared in the area. Camera in hand, he waded through the swarming crowd to sing You Won’t Feel a Thing. He made his way back to the stage soon enough for the band’s faux farewell. The audience shared the moment like an inside joke and sang the “ooh’s” of It’s Not Right For You with cellphones held alight.
The Script soon obliged and returned to the stage for another set of songs. When the time came for No Good in Goodbye, Danny requested everyone present to “use your phones for something different. So many people spend their lives on their phones and don’t look up. For this one song, let’s live in the moment.”
And live in the moment Manila did. Thousands of tiny lights illuminated the MOA Arena for The Script’s final minutes onstage to create a little galaxy all our own, if only for a while.
To groans (and possibly tears) all around, the band bid their fans farewell. Dismay was quickly replaced with hope as they swore it would not be another two years before The Script returns to paint Manila green once again.
Special Thanks to Midas Promotions
More The Script Live in Manila Photos at The Script Live in Manila 2015 Photo Gallery
Written by Carla Barretto
Photos by Glenn Michael Tan
The Script Live in Manila 2015 Set List
1. Paint The Town Green
2. Hail Rain or Sunshine
3. Breakeven
4. The End Where I Begin
5. Before The Worst
6. Superheroes
7. We Cry
8. If You Could See Me Now
9. Man On A Wire
10. Nothing
11. Good Ol' Days
12. Never Seen Anything "Quite Like You"
13. Man Who Can't Be Moved
14. You Won't Feel A Thing
15. Six Degrees of Separation
16. It's Not Right For You
Encore
17. The Energy Never Dies
18. For The First Time
19. No Good In Goodbye
20. Hall of Fame
