Triumphant Croke Park homecoming for The Script

HP snapper Kathrin Baumbach was on hand to capture the action - check out her photo gallery here.

It took a little while, but when the enormity of the evening finally hit Danny O’Donoghue it was clearly visible to every single person in Croke Park.
Standing on a raised plinth in the middle of the field, the frontman slowly turned to gaze at the crowd with a mixture of astonishment, delight and overpowering emotion. This was what a homecoming should be.
We’d been promised a special opening, and it was certainly delivered: green flags flew through the evening sky as Danny, Mark and Glen strode the length of the pitch like prizefighters. Opening with a raucous ‘Paint The Town Green’, it was quickly apparent that a high-octane, high energy performance was the order of the day.
The adoring audience needed little encouragement to make their voices heard: an early deployment of ‘Breakeven’ saw a lung-busting effort from the 72,000 strong capacity crowd. There was plenty by way of interaction too, from embracing the fans to commandeering cameras. One unsuspecting woman not even in attendance was ‘treated’ to a rollicking ‘Nothing’, which Danny sang down a phone provided by a scorned ex-boyfriend in the front row.
When the joyous mood was interrupted, it was with good reason: an emotional ‘If You Could See Me Now’ was a poignant tribute to the young Irish students who tragically died in Berkeley earlier this week.
As the sun set, the show sped towards a towering crescendo. Fireworks lit up the sky during ‘The Energy Never Dies’, while ‘For The First Time’ still sounded as fresh as it did five years ago.
Before unleashing an ebullient ‘Hall Of Fame’ to round off the show, Danny implored the crowd to enjoy “a moment to remember for the rest of our lives”. The instruction was hardly needed. After a night to rubber-stamp the trio’s status as one of Ireland’s – and the world’s – premier acts, there’s little worry of this Croke Park cracker being forgotten in a hurry.