The Script at the State Theatre, Minneapolis (05 June 2015)

 

 

“This tour is a thank you to our fans,” The Script singer Danny O’Donoghue said on stage at the State Theatre in Minneapolis last night.

It has been a long time since the Irish rockers were in town (as headliner) in support of #3, and for fans who couldn’t make it for their support act for OneRepublic at the Target Center last year, this State Theatre really was a show for those fans. The fans showed up, selling out the seated venue.

Arizona, by the way of Dublin, Colton Avery opened up the show. The heartwarming story that the 23-year old singer told us on stage was that almost gave up on his music career as he accepted his last assignment to open up for some random band that was coming through town. As it turned out it was the highlight of his life, as he found out that band was The Script and they’ve taken him on tour throughout Australia, Thailand, and back in the US. He seemed really happy to be writing and playing his songs for us.

Of his 17-minute set, he threw in a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” and requesting the audience to hold up their phone’s flashlight.

 

We’ve seen Mary Lambert before, and I knew what to expect with this likeable singer and spoken word artist. Her 30-min set was half music, half poetry/spoken word, and a little storytelling.

One of her story she told, right before her set closer and biggest hit song “Secrets”, was that she was at the Grammy’s with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (they’ve collaborated for their song “Same Love”) and she was crying a lot. Finally, it took Madonna, with her cut-out gloves, to come by and wiped her tears away. As soon as Madonna touched Lambert’s face, she completely froze in a complete statue as it was the most divine thing that’s ever happened to her. We laughed, because we would do exactly the same thing.

It’s always good to see Lambert again, but I’m not sure if her music about loving women’s body image and sometime overly passionate throwing the F-word around fit well with some of the family with children in the audience…. but then again, you cannot change the way you are, especially if you are Mary Lambert.

 

As soon as The Script came on stage at 9:15, the entire audience almost immediately stood up*. The Dublin band is back on tour in support of their fourth studio album No Sound Without Silence.

A couple of fun tidbits about this show, apparently guitarist Mark Sheehan had a massive fear of heights, and the director decided that the video shoot for “Man on a Wire” would require Sheehan to stand up way high on the side of a building (with nothing but some strings holding him up). He was in fear of his life, but at the end of it, he seemed really glad to have faced that fear. Obviously much happier to have his feet on the ground, playing guitars for us on a horizontal stage.

In typical Script fashion, Danny O’Donoghue is often interacting directly with his fans – sometime running in the aisle and walking over the seats. The best part was during “You Won’t Feel a Thing”, he was suddenly in the balcony, which is really unheard of! Fans who got balcony seats were sure in for a surprise.

For “Nothing”, O’Donoghue took a fan’s phone and basically sang to her boyfriend on the phone. That was fun, but I soon got the impression that O’Donoghue may be upset by these fans texting, talking, snapping selfies, and shooting pictures/videos throughout his show. Especially near the end of their set, when he grabbed a fan’s phone and moved it on stage behind the monitor or when he clearly looked at another fan not paying attention and saying, “you got to live in this moment”. It is the modern age, what can you do?

One thing was for sure, despite some people not paying attention to the show, I sure won’t be forgetting this Script show anytime soon.

The Script’s latest No Sound Without Silence is out now, the band is wrapping up their North American tour, with a show in Chicago tonight, and St Louis on Sunday. Their final stop will be in Mexico City on June 10th.

* I’ve said this before, but I think seated venues are wrong for a band of this high energy pop/rock music. Fans won’t sit down for the entire duration of their shows, and if you don’t have a great seat or stuck behind someone tall, you’re really out of luck. Still, there’s certain amenities that these venues can offer: a clear path to the exit, the choice of paying more to be closer to the stage, more control over their stage setup (high ceilings) and generally it is a more personal show.