We’re so excited to be going on the road... I’m going to lose it on stage
THE SCRIPT’S DANNY O’DONOGHUE TELLS MARION McMULLEN EMOTIONS WILL BE RUNNING HIGH AS THE BAND STARTS TOURING AGAIN
SINGER-SONGWRITER Danny O’Donoghue has had enough of staring at the walls at home and is ready to do what he does best .... entertain people with music.
The Script’s frontman says performing in arenas again will be “super-emotional and supercharged” as people start to come together again.
“It feels like being let off the leash and going a bit crazy, but we all deserve it. Whatever makes you feel happy go and do it,” says the singer.
“I’ve been at home like everyone else during lockdowns and the whole world has experienced this.
“People have been really tested and the entire world has faced this challenge. Now we have the new normal.”
Danny says people have suffered the loss of family, loved ones and friends and it feels like the best way to honour their memories going forward is to live life to the full and make the most of every moment.
“The first lockdown felt like a bit of an extended holiday where you could have a barbecue and enjoy a few drinks at home, but the second lockdown was extreme and there was a real sense of urgency. People were looking for answers. It was a crazy place to be.”
Danny has also had to come to terms with losing his mother Ailish to a brain aneurysm on Valentine’s Day last year and poured his grief into the band’s last album Sunsets And Full Moons.
He says martial arts and Thai boxing have also helped him get through a lot – “beating up the pads instead of beating up myself ” – but says his beloved music industry has suffered badly.
“We’ve lost so many professional people behind the scenes.
“They are doing other jobs like driving for Amazon and I really hope we can get them back.”
Now he and bandmates, Glen Power and Mark Sheehan, are counting down the days to when they can tour again with European dates starting this month.
New career-spanning greatest hits album Tales From The Script is also released on October 1 with tracks including Hall Of Fame (featuring will.i.am) and Top 10 hits The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, For The First Time and Superheroes. The album also includes landmark moments and staples of their live show including Breakeven, their debut single We Cry, and Rain.
The album will be followed by live performances in the UK and Ireland next year with Ella Henderson as special guest and two homecoming performances at Dublin’s 3Arena. It all celebrates a musical career that has included five UK number one albums, six billion streams, and more than two million ticket sales.
Danny admits greatest hits albums are getting rarer as a lot of bands now only survive for a few records before breaking up and are not around long enough to notch up enough bestselling tracks to bring out one.
He says the band’s fans have also remained loyal over the years.
“Like everyone, I’ve missed being with family and friends and playing for our fans. I want to give them a great night. They have given me a life, a roof over my head and clothes on my back.”
Danny spent lockdown with his girlfriend and says relationships that were fractured have broken during the last year while strong relationships have grown even stronger.
“If you had a problem with yourself, you had to face yourself,” he points out. “If you had a problem with a relationship you had to face each other. If you had a strong relationship if became stronger and if it was broken it became fractured. What would have taken four years in relationship terms has taken just a year.”
The band have been rehearsing every day and are looking forward to performing live again.
Danny jokes he will be word perfect by then when it comes to lyrics adding: “We’ve written a lot of songs about love and you sometimes go ‘which one is this’. It’s the second verses that can trip you up.”
He says they also want to be positive for the future and bring that positivity to audiences.
“The Tales From The Script album is a springboard to our next chapter, but it’s also our story so far,” says Danny.
“We’re so excited to be taking it on the road. I know I’m gonna lose it on stage, night after night.”
For album and tour details go to thescript music.com