The Script – Man In The Arena Tour Live Gallery And Review from 3Arena, Dublin 30.10.26

There are few Irish bands whose music is quite so deeply woven into the soundtrack of the country as The Script. The Dublin group have built a legacy that stretches well beyond their chart success. Returning home to 3Arena on Friday night, they were greeted by a crowd that needed very little encouragement to remind them just how much these songs mean.

With the arena plunged into darkness, Danny O’Donoghue emerged dramatically from beneath the stage as the opening notes of “Hall of Fame” rang out. It was a suitably grand entrance for a song that has become one of the band’s defining anthems, and a fitting way to kick off a night that was always going to be a celebration of their journey so far.

There was plenty of spectacle throughout the evening, with pyro lighting up the arena during “Paint the Town Green” and the production matching the scale of a band that has spent years playing some of the biggest stages in the world. But it was the music itself that did most of the heavy lifting.

The setlist offered a really good mix of new and old, with tracks from this year’s “The User’s Guide to Being Human” sitting comfortably alongside the catalogue that first made the band household names. Songs like “Man in the Arena”, the club-like “After We’re Gone” and “Grow Old With Grace” gave the newer material its moment, while the older favourites were never at any point far away.

“For the First Time” and “We Cry” were among the standout moments of the night. The latter arrived as part of an impressive run of older material, bringing together snippets of several fan favourites in a medley that could easily have stretched into its own headline set. It’s perhaps these earlier songs that carry the most nostalgia for an Irish audience. There is something about hearing the opening notes of a song you grew up with, surrounded by thousands of people who know every word, that never really loses its appeal.

The band’s journey to this point has not been without its difficulties. The devastating loss of founding member Mark Sheehan in 2023 was a moment that could have brought an entirely different ending to the story. Instead, Danny O’Donoghue and Glen Power have continued to carry the band forward, finding a way to honour their friend and the legacy they built together while carving out a new chapter. The release of “The User’s Guide to Being Human” this year is another significant step in that process, showing that there is still plenty left for Danny to say.

The emotional weight of that journey was particularly evident during “If You Could See Me Now”, before the band eventually made their way towards an encore featuring “Scars Align”, “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” and of course, “Breakeven”.

The Script will now take the tour to Belfast before continuing through the UK, with stops in Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and London, before heading across mainland Europe to Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Further dates in Asia and Australia are also lined up for next spring.

But wherever the tour takes them, there is unlikely to be another night quite like this one. The Script might be one of Ireland’s biggest musical exports, but they will never have a home quite like Dublin. And judging by the reception at 3Arena, it’s a feeling very much shared by their fans.

The Script photos & set-list:

Set-list:
Hall of Fame
Man in the Arena
Paint the Town Green
Nothing
The Crowd Was Singing Wonderwall
Rain
For the First Time
Grow Old With Grace
Never Seen Anything “Quite Like You”
After We’re Gone
The User’s Guide to Being Human
We Cry
If You Ever Come Back
Six Degrees of Separation
It’s Not Right for You
Man on a Wire
Good Ol’ Days
Science & Faith
Millionaires
The Last Time
If You Could See Me Now
Superheroes
______________________________
Scars Align
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved
Breakeven

Photos & Words by Myles Dunne – @MylesDunnePhoto