Love and loss: How popular Irish band The Script found meaning again on the road

Known for hits Hall of Fame and For The First Time, the group return to the stage after the death of founding member Mark Sheehan

Danny O'Donoghue, lead singer of The Script, at the Super Bock Arena in Portugal during the Irish band's latest world tour. Getty Images

Ballads and biscuits – that’s what pop-rockers The Script will bring to the UAE when their world tour arrives at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Saturday, headlining the Late Late Paddy’s Party by Irish haunt McGettigan's.

Those soaring choruses about love, heartbreak and home? They’re for the fans, says frontman Danny O’Donoghue. As for those packets of Irish soda bread biscuits – those are for mates craving a taste of home.

"The Irish community is the same as many others, as there are many people abroad and missing home, and when you are away you are always missing those little things," he tells The National. "Many people miss those sweets they had as a kid, so it's normal that whenever someone travels from home they are asking for that kind of thing. And after being a band travelling the world for the 17 or 18 years we have been together, we are honoured that people think of us as something they miss from home."

Danny O'Donoghue of The Script performs at Milan's Fabrique in 2024. Getty Images

While they welcome the chance to be “completely Irish” for their UAE gig, the chances are that the crowd will reflect The Script’s global appeal. Formed by O’Donoghue and late guitarist Mark Sheehan from the ashes of their earlier group, MyTown, the band found instant success with their 2008 self-titled debut – powered by the US hit Breakeven. They went on to release a string of irresistible radio anthems, including Hall of Fame and For the First Time, blending elements of rock, folk and hip-hop.

Those heady memories are now irrevocably tinged with sadness, after Sheehan died in 2023 following an illness. He was 46. That sense of loss pervades The Script’s latest album Satellites, released last year as the band officially transitioned into a four-piece, with additional members Ben Weaver on guitar and Benjamin Sargeant on bass.

While the album features the group’s signature bright moments – like the Bruno Mars channelling Both Ways – it’s when they match that clubby energy with newfound emotional depth that Satellites soars. The electro groove of Gone and the burbling Inside Out, placed at the heart of the album, is when the band are most candid about the depression and anxiety that sudden loss can bring. “I just wanted to get in the studio and do what I always do – put the pain where it’s supposed to go and try to make sense of life,” O’Donoghue says.

As for Sheehan’s influence, O’Donoghue admits there is now “a gap” in the songwriting process the band are learning to fill. “There are so many times I find myself writing parts that sound like something he would have written – and maybe I’m doing that subconsciously,” he adds.

“These moments often come on certain songs where I remember him saying, ‘No, this needs a little more street vibe.’ He was such a behemoth in the studio. He was always about getting things done.”

Mark Sheehan, from Irish rock band The Script, died from an illness in 2023. Getty Images

That absence feels particularly poignant, O’Donoghue notes, when performing songs Sheehan helped to shape, including 2012’s anthemic If You Could See Me Now, delivered mid-set during the tour as a tribute to their departed bandmate. “That’s a song that deals with the passing of people. I’m singing the second verse that Mark wrote about his mum and dad’s passing,” he says. “Now I’m singing it about him. So that’s how messed up it is – performing that song feels like emotional chess.”

This perhaps explains why the latest tour – with the band already touching down in the US, Europe and Asia – feels like The Script’s most meaningful yet. While their previous greatest hits tour served as a reminder of the communal joy of live music in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, this one has the fans affirming the band's decision to keep going.

"That is exactly what's happening onstage each night, in that I’m reminded of why I’m doing this," O'Donoghue says. "I’m not afraid to show my emotions or open up to the audience. I believe our songs were there for people when they needed them, and now those people are here for us … it’s a beautiful moment.”

That's also some of the benefits of being a travelling Irish musician or part of a much-loved band – every gig feels a little like coming home. "It is a blessing," he adds. "You feel you are always looked after when you’re away."

The Script perform at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Saturday. Doors open at noon; ticket prices start at Dh299