Shot! The Script live in Brighton
They may have put on their best ever Brighton gig, but as polished as it was, all the ‘bells and whistles’ failed to mask the feeling that the entire performance was carefully contrived just to please the faithful
When you’ve seen a band more than just once or twice, you find yourself in a position to judge them, not just for what they are, but in comparison to what they were. As this was my fourth time seeing The Script, my impressions of where they’re at today have been shaped by my memories from those previous gigs. Three things immediately come to mind:
First, despite being a trio (embellished by a keyboard and bassist on stage) the band is very much Danny O’Donoghue’s — he’s not just the frontman, he is The Script. One couldn’t imagine them without him.
Second, they always put on a good show, never skimping on production. Ten trucks at the back of the Brighton Centre bore testimony to the complexity of their stageshow.
Third, they have built and retained a loyal following, although one surmises that six albums in, it’s largely the same fanbase they accrued when they broke through a dozen or so years back. From the get-go, their songs have always been laden with emotive lyrics, words that clearly resonate with their — almost exclusively female — audience.
When Sunsets and Full Moons came out last November, those fans were out in force as the album went straight to No 1 (their 5th chart topper) although it has to be said it did so by selling just 32,000 copies and quickly fell to 14 the very next week, suggesting perhaps that the band have struggled to grow their audience. Perhaps even more telling is their ability to evolve as songwriters. To my ears, too many of their songs sound like reworkings of previous material. Indeed, the majority of the tracks on the new album fall solidly into the ‘we’ve heard it all before’ category.
Successful they may be, but critical success continues to allude them, with many aiming brickbats at the band. The Guardian recently described them as “Stadium rock at its most cliched” accusing them of having embraced “a big and rather bland arena sound.”
Guardian readers themselves have been equally scathing, calling their songs “as soulless as music gets.” Another compared their “safe pop music” as being “essentially nursery rhymes for adults.” Harsh as those words may be, there is certain truth in the allegations. Musically, they do play safe pop music, and one gets the impression they know precisely what their fans want and that delivering more of the same will keep them sweet.
Beyond retaining their fans, what The Script are also sedulous about is branding. They still use the same logo they had at the beginning and each album cover art informs their stage sets. This time around, however, one could almost accuse them of branding overkill.
The circular graphic sun/moon motif that adorns Sunsets and Full Moons literally appears everywhere. Of course it’s on the drum head, it’s also emblazoned on the stage floor and features heavily among the projected on-screen visuals. But it doesn’t stop there.
A sparkly version adorns Mark Sheehan’s T-shirt, another can be found on the back of Danny’s jacket. Perhaps most visually pleasing of them all is the one on his acoustic guitar. And, if you look hard enough, you’ll also see it printed on his microphone! (Something I’ve never seen before!)
Alongside their obsession with branding, The Script are a band who really live up to their name. It’s almost as if every aspect of their live show exists because someone has written a carefully worded document entitled ‘this is what needs to happen to impress an audience.’
And it’s all there: the impressive laser-embellished lighting, the dramatic pyros, the huge video screens, the ‘surprise’ appearances in the crowd, the obligatory crowd singalongs, the acoustic interludes and — at one point, even a live phone call to an audience member’s ex. It all makes for an engaging show, but despite all their intentions, it’s one that feels overly contrived, as if everything you’re seeing has been — somewhat cynically — pre-scripted.
That being said, I have to agree with Danny O’Donoghue’s assessment when he said “This is the best gig we’ve ever played here, by far!” Having been at their previous two Brighton Centre shows, it really was. But as polished as it was, it was not without its faults. Most serious of these was the sound.
In a venue not renowned for its acoustics, whoever was manning the sound desk had an off night, with the sonics being muffled for much of the show, a cacophony of noise with Danny’s vocals and Mark’s guitar being buried deep in a muddy mix. The sub-par sound was surprising, because everything else production-wise was top-notch – props for that go to show designers MIRRAD Studios who did a great job.
Visually, things were impressive. Behind the band was a huge video screen and angled above them hovered an equally big circular screen. A mix of live images and graphics utilised both, often in a more creative way than one usually sees. The video clarity was as good as I’ve seen, especially during a memorable sequence that slowly closed in on Earth before settling on the UK (and Ireland!) The lighting was also a notch or two above most bands, and added greatly to the look and feel of the show.
Performing a couple of songs from the balcony however seemed like it was done for no other reason than to create an ‘intimate moment.’ In truth, it was hardly a spontaneous move, as microphones and instruments were already set up and it’s something they do at every venue on this tour. From where I was sitting, it did feel a little incongruous that the three band members were up in the balcony, whilst the two backing musicians were left playing along on the stage. And, if truth be told, most people ended up watching the stripped-back performance on the big screen anyway.
Something else that seemed overly forced to me was how the two least prominent band members were given a bigger role this time. Previously confined to their instruments, both Mark Sheehan and Glen Power now found themselves in unfamiliar situations: Mark ‘singing’ sans guitar and Glen standing on one of the two circular end pods, sheepishly banging his drumsticks together. Judging by their demeanour, neither appeared to relish their time in the spotlight.
A devoted audience lapped it up. Tellingly, the biggest reactions of the night came when they got to sing along to the band’s early hits. When heard alongside the newer material, it has to be said they remain vastly superior. Talking of the new stuff, I think The Arts Desk summed it up best when their reviewer described the band’s latest offering as “over-produced anthem-pop featuring lyrics calibrated for a generation gnawed by social media anxiety.”
As if to underscore this, at one point, Danny asked if someone in the audience would call their ex. When a fan near the front obliged, he took their phone and sang Nothing to a girl named Danique. Again, this wasn’t a spontaneous thought, but something he does during every show.
Yet, despite their shortcomings, there’s no denying The Script put on a really good show. Next time, however, I hope they try a little less hard to impress with ‘bells and whistles’ and put more effort into ensuring they sound good.
Setlist: Something Unreal | Superheroes | Talk You Down | If You Don’t Love Yourself | Rain | Good Old Days | Nothing | If You Could See Me Now | No Man Is An Island | Run Through Walls | Never Seen Anything Quite Like You | Science & Faith | The Man Who Can’t Be Moved | Millionaires | Six Degrees Of Separation | Hall Of Fame || The Last Time | Breakeven | For The First Time
“To me, shooting live music is all about capturing the personality of the performer and the emotion of their performance. And then creating an iconic image.”
Behind the image: All these images were created with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 using available light, the 75mm 1.8 Zuiko lens and the in-camera digital zoom. I was only able to shoot the first three songs from the pit. As always, I focused on getting interesting portraits, rather than capturing wide set shots. Whilst I’m very pleased with some of the portraits I got of Danny, I wish I’d been able to get a little more variety than I did. That being said, these are the best shots I’ve got of him in four tries! Oh and by the way, the two auditorium shots were taken from my balcony seat with the iPhone 8 Plus.
About the author: Based in Sussex-by-the-Sea, on England’s south coast, Gary is a creative writer and image-maker. He specialises in out of the ordinary portraits of musicians and people with interesting faces, as well as photographing some of the world’s finest flowers and gardens.
