Arthur's Day review: Whelan's

Home-grown music really was the order of the day yesterday as Irish pop sensations The Script delighted the Arthur’s Day crowd in the warm Wexford St venue.

The band’s huge Irish fan base was evident when Dave Fanning introduced them as the night’s main mystery act and the three-piece bounded onto the stage at approx 9.30 to a chorus of deafening roars.

Having just finished up a set merely an hour beforehand in the surprising location of The Ivy House in Drumcondra, Danny O’Donoghue and the boys unleashed such energy it was hard to imagine they hadn’t been preparing for hours.

Warmed up earlier by energetic appearances from Australian hip-hop sensation Iggy Azalea, who delighted the crowd with tracks from her forthcoming debut album The New Classic, and a one-man beat machine in the form of Nottingham’s The Petebox, The Script wowed with a glittering set culled from their three chart-busting long-players. Debut single 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' went down especially well, with the packed audience contributing their voice to at least half of the breakthrough smash.

The Dublin act kept interaction with the ecstatic audience to an absolute maximum. As Danny brought up issues like the recession and emigration, the mood was patriotic and proud as three pints of Guinness were crowd-surfed onto the stage to the thirsty trio.

Finishing on a high with hit single 'Hall of Fame’, Danny expressed their complete support of Arthur’s Day and the platform the Arthur Guinness Projects created for otherwise neglected Irish musical talent.

You can view a full gallery of live shots here.