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Leeds Live
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Megan Banner

Danny O'Donoghue from The Script and 13,000 fans mock woman's ex-boyfriend at Leeds First Direct Area gig

It felt like every woman in Leeds gathered to see their teenage crush on stage while one fan enjoyed a special moment with the man himself.

A brilliant set by The Script at Leeds First Direct Arena on Friday night, May 20, confirmed their un-dying love for Danny O'Donoghue and his band. The crowd went so crazy that Danny dubbed it 'the best night on the tour'.

The Script started the night with superheroes, a 2014 release from their album, voices, followed by rain where a sea of umbrellas went into the air from the mesmerised crowd as Danny dad-danced across the stage.

Read more: The Wombats at Leeds First Direct Arena review, setlist, photos and more

By the middle of the set the band had left the stage and started performing in the seated area in the middle of the audience. I loved this, you rarely encounter something like that - I've been to endless gigs and festivals and never witnessed a performer get into the crowd - no-one seems to connect with their fans like the Script did last night.

They preceded to sing a number of songs whilst with the fans, including Nothing, where Danny got a member of the audience to ring their ex-boyfriend so 13,000 people could sing the song down the phone to them. He even got a little boy called Josh to help with the music for Never Seen Anything 'Quite Like You'.

The band left the staged an continued their performance up in the seated area of the crowd (Megan Banner)

The crowd loved it and so did I, everyone sung their hearts out in harmony and it was so refreshing to see a band connect with their fans and not be scared to get out into the crowd. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the evening was.

Arriving I expected people in lots of people in their 20s, like myself, but to my surprise it was a sea of women in their 30s and 40s - which I probably should have released after a Facetime call with my nana earlier in the day after I told her where I was going that night and, she replied 'oh that's him off the telly'. None of that mattered - the crowd still went crazy and made it a fantastic evening.

Although there were two young lads, sat with their arms crossed the whole time, who had clearly been dragged out by their mum in front of me which made me really laugh.

One of their most popular songs, For the First Time, ended the 15-song set and the roof came off the arena last night as people sung their hearts out.

The band then disappeared as lyrics 'Oh, these times are hard, yeah, they're making us crazy, don't give up on me, baby' continued to echo around the arena by fans. But they were, of course, always coming back as there were a couple of songs that the crowd still needed to hear.

No Good in Goodbye, breakeven and hall of fame closed the performance - which gave me Goosebumps. Streamers were fired into the air as Danny dedicated the song to his fans telling us 'you can be the greatest, you can be the best'.

The encore came to a close as the band thanked the Leeds crowd who were on top form all night.

Its safe to say when the lights came their smiles from every direction in that arena as many women got to see their teenage crush perform once more.

Setlist

  • Superheroes

  • Rain

  • We Cry

  • I Want It All

  • Paint the Town Green

  • The Man Who Can't Be Moved

  • Before The Worst

  • The Last Time

  • If You Could See Me Now

  • Nothing

  • Never Seen Anything "Quite Like You"

  • Something Unreal

  • Science & Faith

  • Talk You Down

  • For the First Time

Encore

  • No Good in Goodbye

  • Breakeven

  • Hall of Fame

To find out the latest big gig and event news in our city you can visit our Best in Leeds homepage. There you will also find a guide to great things to do in Leeds.

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