Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Date: 29th March 2013
Promoter: Midas Promotions
Review by: Fadhil R.
Special Thanks: Paula and the Midas Promotions team
Photos by Cliff Y.
The Script fans will be hoping the band duties resume with another positive performance and an entertaining two hours or less against all odds as they returned to our lonely island of Singapore. That glorious Friday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium was all I could think of, which probably could be the best concert I had in that venue. With our homegrown band Shirlyn & The UnXpected performing in the opening stages of the concert, the crowd seemingly wanted The Script to appear instead of them.
Lights dimmed afterwards as the first two members to ignite the crowd were actually the keyboardist and the bassist. They were not any random dudes you meet at a supermarket. Even though they are not officially in the band, the pair is an extremely valuable asset to The Script’s #3 World Tour. The duo do not need to be told what it had to be done, so it’s good to know that each individual is only focused on recapturing most of the songs that were going to be played.
What The Script needed was love from their fans; to have a chance of exploiting their brilliance yet again, but the onus will be on Danny as he breaks from his comfortable zone and bursts onto the stage to lift the crowd with “Good Ol Days” as their beautiful episode was about to begin. The likes of Mark Sheehan (guitarist) and Glen Power (drummer) illustrated that they had enough firepower to keep the crowd singing in tune. It came without me having to have the majority of thinking what to do next and just to focus on having a good time. Without any other distractions, it was interesting that Danny was able to gauge which side of the stadium he considered to be the stronger crowd at that moment. “We Cry” was not just the way in which it emboldened our tender hearts, but also how it checked their movements on stage with Danny sitting at the edge, dangling his legs like a boy asking for his candy back. Yet you can imagine the satisfaction everyone felt of “Breakeven” having the exact opposite effect, especially given how that famous song pulls the crowd right back to where they were in front of the stage pouring their hearts out to them.
The potential effects of such showmanship shouldn’t be discounted, despite the fact that only Danny conversed a lot more with the crowd than the rest of the band; obviously frontmen are meant to move the crowd either with their angelic voice or crowd interaction no matter what. Songs like “Science and Faith” and that maestro song “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” really showed that not even one bad spell of form is going to stop Danny from wanting to be where he’s standing; and that had not really disappointed anyone you – not that you would expect him to. On top of all that, the one positive that intrigued me is the motivation and steeliness of Glen Power. Even with a song like “If You Could See Me Now” proved Glen’s skills was looking jollier for the entire track.
Sheehan had repeatedly presented himself that he has no fear of going near to the crowd, but the problem may not lie in courage. Although The Script ought to bring more sentimental tunes than a pragmatic approach, they haven’t always had the chance to pull it off. This time, the band appeared to have a strong bond to Singapore that will be tough to break. That’s why ideas like mood, belief, and perspective are particularly important in between songs like “Before The Worst” and “If You Ever Come Back”. The amazing thing with The Script was that when they click and turn it on to their style of music, they are pretty much capable of hallucinating the whole crowd, treating them like dancing robots.
“We would love to take a memory home with us” as Mark was gleefully telling the hyperventilating crowd. Then, against all the odds, the band very nearly did the unthinkable as they dressed themselves with “sarongs” covering their lower halves and looked like they were about to do a traditional dance, but it was just a mere tease as they posed only for the cameras. They then put in an assured performance right after as “Talk You Down” was given more credit with Mark sang alongside Danny in deserved fashion. The crowd on the other hand was just praising them as much as they didn’t want the song to end.
The band took a short drinking session on stage just to calm their nerves down as Mark was storytelling about how Danny had drinking problems and made a fool out of himself years ago to someone. “Friends always remind you when you do inappropriate things.” Not sure if it’s the wine talking by Mark but that graceful hit song titled “Nothing” had to happen soon since they were all drinking happily. With that said, few tunes slipped in surprisingly and Danny kind of made the situation all the more curious when he asked for someone’s mobile from the crowd. It does mean, though, that The Script were more capable than most of bands, navigating a series of cool ideas for the crowd to be continuously glued to their performance. As the boys started progressing through the song, Danny dialed a random number (probably a friend of that someone) and sort of “serenaded” that said unknown caller with his mesmerizing lyrics of “Nothing”. A delightful sight that was, and “I’m Yours” took outrageous vocals from Danny and Mark to awaken the echoes of the crowd and forced the stadium to vibrate, literally. It was an intimate session that was stripped down and acoustic, as the crowd was waving their lighted mobiles to them.
Just before playing that one song everyone’s familiar with, Danny spoke of how our homegrown talent, Shirlyn & The UnXpected had energized the crowd in the opening stages and thanked them with a salute for letting the crowd to be pumped up in such an early state. I remained entirely convinced that “Six Degrees of Separation” made sure no one was seated and “For The First Time” had every single soul in the stadium roaring, “Oh these times are hard, yeah, there are making us crazy, don’t give up on me baby” with full commitment till the band actually left the stage, signaling a goodbye. There’s no better option than to be at the seats looking down from higher ground. It was majestic.
The encore was around the corner as the audience were letting their voices heard as those lyrics to “For The First Time” were ringing endlessly at all opposite ends. The song was too meaningful for the band not to step out once again.
Danny might just have appeared at an unbelievably good and important time for the encore as he came in from the side of the stadium, versing through “You Won’t Feel A Thing” while passing through the mad crowd. You need to bite and scratch, do everything you possibly can, just to get closer to Danny as he tried not to get smothered by die hard fans all around him.
Well, as exhausted he was, he’s not the kind of lad who would just turned away from his fans; instead he gave warm hugs to anyone he bumped into. I just love how every song has it story and every story has a emotional feeling to it. “Hall Of Fame” made everyone think of their loved ones and inspirations to get hold of themselves. By this time somehow the band look refreshed for their last song so hopefully that positive vibe filled the stadium and wouldn’t be lost forever from everyone’s minds. Before you can catch your breath, the band bade farewell to the crowd. An impressively visceral affair from a band with plenty more left in the tank.