The Script last rocked South Africa back in 2011 after having just released their third studio album ‘#3’ and now, after having released album four, No Sound Without Silence, the band are back – and with a huge bang. The boys did a tour of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and even shot a video for their new single ‘Man On A Wire’ in Cape Town. Oh, and they brought Phillip Phillips on tour with them.
I started off at a press conference with the bunch of media as well as a few winners who were lucky enough to meet the band. The conference was streamed live on 947 Highveld Stereo and was hosted by the lovely Anele who, as I posted last week played a game with the band on air.
The Script’s tour partner Phillip Phillips also joined the band and held an intimate showcase to around 100 people a day before the show at Universal Music’s head office in Rosebank. He blew me away with his acoustic performance and really proved that he had what it takes to win American Idol.
Now, onto the evening of the show. I missed Phillip’s first two songs thanks to horrendous service from The Ocean Basket in Northgate but when I arrived it was clear that the crowd was loving his set. The singer performed tracks such as ‘Raging Fire’, ‘Lead On’ and, of course, ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’. It was so different to seeing him perform up close and acoustically. The music was drowning out his voice and his performance felt all over the place. That being said, the crowd went insane when he performed some of his hit singles, proving he really is a bigger star than he thought here in South Africa.
The Script then came on to a loud roar from the audience. I found it quite odd that they started off with ‘Paint The Town Green’ but it was a nice way to get into the set list instead of starting with a bang. The Script are good. It’s that simple. Danny, the band’s lead singer, has such a special way of commanding a stage. The audience interaction was spectacular and saw a whole lot of talking from Danny and guitarist Mark.
The band played favourites such as ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’, which sent goosebumps throughout my body, ‘We Cry’, ‘Superheroes’, ‘If You Could See Me Now’, ‘Hall of Fame’ and many more so effortlessly. I know they have performed these tracks a million times but the band had their craft perfected and blew the Coca Cola Dome away with the flawless vocals from Danny and Mark. Danny even performed from the crowd in a track. It was really great to see how comfortable they were to do that and how pleasing their fans comes first.
I think my favourite part of the show was when Danny asked the crowd to call up an ex of theirs. Naturally, someone did and Danny took the phone and sang ‘Nothing’ to them. The track is about a guy who drinks his troubles away after a girl breaks up with him. Danny sang it to the guy on the phone and kept checking if he was still there. He stayed on the line for the whole song before Danny shouted ‘Goodbye, Asshole!’, at the end of the track and put down. Sure, it’s a bit rude but if I got as a call from them I would be in my element.
All in all, the show was great. Not as good as their 2011 show, but they lived up to my expectations. Here’s hoping they come back as they tour with their next album.
The Script Set list:
Paint the Town Green
Hail Rain or Sunshine
Breakeven
Before the Worst
Superheroes
We Cry
If You Could See Me Now
Man on a Wire
Nothing
Good Ol’ Days
Never Seen Anything “Quite Like You”
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved
You Won’t Feel a Thing
Encore:
The Energy Never Dies
For the First Time
No Good in Goodbye
Hall of Fame
*Images from the Cape Town show courtesy of Channel 24 and Warren Talmarkes.
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