The Script lead singer Danny O’Donoghue has described their headline concert at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow as a “pinch-me moment”.
The band have played support to the likes of U2 and Paul McCartney, but have never headlined a stadium before.
The initial ticket allocation sold out when the concert went on sale in October last year and extra production tickets are now available. The capacity for tomorrow night’s concert is 50,000.
Speaking to The Irish Times today following a sound check and a tour of the stadium, O'Donoghue said the band felt ready for stadium concerts following their turn supporting U2 at Croke Park two years ago.
“You can have goals and dreams as a band. We jumped off the stage, looked each other in the eye and said ‘this is ours for the taking’,” he said.
“These size gigs are ours if we put the hard work in, put our nose down and don’t veer off the plan and here we are. What the likes of U2 and Paul McCartney have taught us is that stadiums are very achievable. Once you get the taste of a stadium gig, you can’t let go.”
The Script only released their self-titled debut album three years which went to No 1 in several countries. Its successor Science & Faith has been equally successful debuting at No 3 in the Billboard 200 in the US.
They just completed a tour of South Africa with their concert in Johannesburg, which attracted 18,000 spectators, the biggest crowd they have attracted in their own right to date.
The crowd, which will be going to the Aviva Stadium tomorrow night, will be, by far, the biggest they will have played as a headline act.
“It’s our own stadium, it’s our own band and it’s our own crowd. What a great achievement in today’s day and age,” he said.
“I know I’m in the band but the sense of ‘wow, it’s an Irish band filling an Irish stadium with Irish people’ is there for me too. It is a fantastic achievement for Irish music. I hope the critics, for or against, will join us on the day.”
