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The Script brings a piece of Dublin to PNC Pavilion

Megan McGill, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Cincinnati's PNC Pavilion was stop number eight on The Script's 34-city American tour.

The band managed to fill about three quarters of the venue Sept. 10.

Though almost every one of the band's songs bemoans the heartbreak of lost love, The Script still manages to produce feel-good music. The high energy, often hip-hop feel of the band's music kept the crowd dancing and singing along throughout the performance. 

Leader singer Danny O'Donoghue kept his wide smile and high cheekbones turned toward the audience, making the audience feel constantly welcome.

Under the bright lights, O'Donoghue's already fair Irish complexion and jet black hair was made oddly reminiscent of Rob Pattinson as Edward Cullen.

A thick Irish accent hardly excused O'Donoghue's slight, yet undeniable mullet, but it did not compensate for the lack of the light, lyric falsetto featured in the band's recordings. It was instead traded for a strident, nasal quality heard in songs like "If You Ever Come Back."

The real energizer of the audience was the band's lead guitarist Mark Sheehan. Sheehan didn't hesitate to address the Irish drinking stereotype. In fact, he embraced it, bringing a beer to the stage to say "cheers" to the audience and prove they were "living up" to their Irish name. Sheehan even joked that "drunk" was the only way to listen to the band's music.

Though the light effects were simple, with some small synchronization between lights and drums, a large screen covering the entire back of the stage enhanced the message of several songs. 

The image of the surface of a planet was scanned during the performance of "Science and Faith." A series of numbers set to countdown to zero at different paces filled the screen during "Nothing," and a bustling intersection was projected behind the band during "The Man Who Can't be Moved."

With the exception of some vocal disappointments, The Script's live performance lived up to their recorded reputation. A large complaint with Saturday's performance was the short length of the concert.

The Script only played six of the 12 songs on their new album and left out such favorites as "Exit Wounds" and "This=Love."

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The Script came on after a less than inspiring 40-minute performance by Safetysuit and barely played for over an hour. Concertgoers were headed to their cars before 10:30. For tickets ranging from $40-$70, much more should be expected from the world famous musicians.

Though the audience's energy soared through the performance, it came to an abrupt decline after the band shockingly did not return after the first encore.