When I’d bought my ticket for the Pink concert about a year earlier, I expected it would be a Pink concert. Because … well, that’s what one expects. When I learnt that The Script would be her opening act, I was both floored with excitement, and doubtful. The doubt was because I didn’t want to believe it, in case it turned out not to be true. (As I came to learn from reading Brene Brown’s “Atlas of the Heart,” this is called foreboding joy). It was like going for a Michael Jackson concert and finding that Prince (or the Artist Formerly Known as Prince) would be opening. Incredible!

The Script have always held a very special place in my heart. I’d been invested in their genre of music for many years. I shook off the melancholy of my 20s to move on to happier beats, but a couple of their songs would remain on my habitual play list.

The summer of 2024 presented Pink’s concert in Stockholm. The atmosphere was upbeat, thanks to the incredible DJ KidCutUp who kept us on our feet, dancing to music from the 90s that he mixed to perfection. I was standing near the stage, and quietly thanked the version of me who had bought the tickets, for putting in a little more cash for the amazing view. The location was the Strawberry Arena (previously Friends Arena) and reports put the audience size at over 45,000. A faint whiff of beer and wine made its way around as the audience made the dashes to and from the bar locations spread throughout the venue for ease of access.

It was only when they came up on stage ahead of the main act, that I allowed myself to believe that I would truly be watching The Script perform live. I got choked up and almost cried. It was like meeting a lifetime hero, for the first time. It was connecting with these strangers, who had somehow put words to very deep-seated emotions that I only seemed to be able to connect to within myself, when I listened to them sing their sad ballads. Songs of people who felt the same nameless sorrow and took desperate steps to appease it. This band sang of the enormity of the effect of my breaking heart, understanding me perfectly.

I sang along to every song and swayed to every beat. The crowd around me didn’t seem to know much about the band and certainly didn’t know the lyrics. They were very accommodative of my emotional experience, encouraging me to sing along, and sharing kind smiles. Connecting with the strangers around me made it all the more magical. I thanked the Universe for having so perfectly orchestrated it all for me.