Sinead O'Connor, Sage, Gateshead, UK (Rated 4/ 5 )
Reviewed by Judith Pidgeon Friday, 25 July 2008
In the impressive setting of the Sage music centre in Gateshead, Sinead O'Connor enthralled the audience at this show with the power and passion of her voice. This was a rare UK performance from the Irish singer as part of a summer tour of European venues, accompanied only by the acoustic guitarist Steve Cooney and the keyboard player Kieran Kiely.
Wearing jeans and a shirt and playing surely the scruffiest guitar ever seen on stage, a barefoot O'Connor announced that the set would be made up of quiet songs designed to aid a good night's sleep. The setlist featured an eclectic mix of material, some of it from last year's album, Theology, and a selection of older numbers. Highlights included "Never Get Old", written when she was 15, "All Babies", "Something Beautiful" and "Watcher of Men", during which the intensity of her voice raised hairs on the back of the neck. A dramatic performance of "Big Bunch of Junkie Lies", introduced as a "nasty" song written about someone she loved very much (surely a reference to Shane MacGowan and the furore O'Connor caused when she shopped him to the police for using heroin) was memorable.
My personal favourite was a great rendition of "Black Boys on Mopeds", where, perhaps as a comment on the current state of violence among young people in this country, she altered the lyrics from "police who kill black boys on mopeds" to "boys who kill other boys on mopeds". Other classics, including "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" – introduced as another "nasty" song – and "Thank You for Hearing Me", were well received.
Not all the songs benefited from the pared-down treatment. "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" was not as effective without its usual rhythmic percussion and fiddle, and "Nothing Compares 2 U" lost something without fuller instrumentation. That aside, the acoustic backing showcased the incredible range of O'Connor's voice, which is sometimes diluted when she performs with a full band. Never the most comfortable stage performer, she seemed more assured in this setting.
Over the years, O'Connor's actions and utterances, often misinterpreted, have limited her appeal to an extent and made her a figure of ridicule for some. This powerful performance showed what a talented artist she is, one who should be appreciated by a wider audience.
* Thanks to Judith for flagging her review of Sinead's recent Gateshead gig to me (John) for use here. It can also be viewed on the Independent website here.
Thanks to Piotr Gocal from Poland for these super shots of Sinead playing at the recent Globaltica Festival, Gdynia, Poland on July 26th. I've posted them as a photo album in pics section too should anyone wish to see them in more detail. Thanks, John from Rubyworks.
"Hello Everyone, Here are my summer shows. I'll be joined onstage by guitarist Steve Cooney who played on and co-produced the 'Theology' Dublin Sessions disc; together with multi-instrumentalist Kieran Kiely from my 2007 touring band ..boards, accordion, whistles and guitar. Hope to see you somewhere along the road. Sx"
Summer '08 dates --------------------------------------------------------------------- May 31st Sat - Town Hall, Warsaw, Poland Jun 11th Wed - Unicas Festival, Barcelona, Spain Jun 13th Fri - The Music In My Head Festival, Den Haag, Netherlands Jun 27th Fri - Acoustic stage, Glastonbury Festival, UK July 3rd Tue - Opera House, Vienna, Austria July 8th Tue - Auditorium Il Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy July 10th Thu - Vikedal Roots Festival, Vikedal, Norway July 12th Sat - Colours Of Ostrava Festival, Ostrava, Czech Republic July 20th Sun - Beatlefest, Sorrento, Italy - TBC July 22nd Tue - The Sage, Gateshead / Newcastle, UK July 25th Fri - No Borders Festival, Tarvisio, Italy July 26th Sat - Globaltica Festival, Gdynia, Poland Aug 3rd Sun - Lokerse Feesten Festival, Lokerse, Belgium Aug 16th Sat - Rock Oz Arenes, Avenches, Switzerland Aug 31st Sun - Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Laois, Ireland
Currently
listening
:
Aaagh! Release date: 2007-10-16
Hello Everyone, Some of you have brought a bogus Sinead O'Connor MySpace site to my attention. This is just a note to say that the fake site is nothing to do with me, and www.myspace.com/sineadoconnormusic is my only official page on MySpace. I'm just getting ready to go back out on the road around Europe for the summer, see you down the front!
Video of Sinéad & Republic Of Loose at the Meteors
Sinéad collaborated with Irish based funk rock band Republic Of Loose on a new version of Curtis Mayfield's 'We People (Who Are Darker Than Blue)'. Both artistes were invited by the organisers of Ireland's annual Meteor music awards to perform together, and performed the Marvin Gaye classic 'We People (who are darker than blue)'.
Sinéad has collaborated with Irish based funk rock band Republic Of Loose on a new version of Curtis Mayfield's 'We People (Who Are Darker Than Blue)'. Both artistes were invited by the organisers of Ireland's annual Meteor music awards to perform together, and decided on 'We People'. As timely in Ireland in 2008 as it was in Chicago in 1970, this heartfelt plea to respect cultural diversity still rings true today.
Such is the interest from fans and Irish media that they have decided to release the track as a download single, and it will be available exclusively from iTunes Ireland on Sunday 10th February, and on other digital stores from February 17th.
Sinéad will perform 'We People' with Republic Of Loose and the Dublin-based Discovery Gospel Choir live at the Meteors at the RDS Dublin on Friday 15th February, the performance will be broadcast on RTE TV 2 on Saturday 16th February. The song is currently streaming on Sinead's myspace homepage and her website.
Currently
listening
:
Aaagh!
By
Republic of Loose
Release date: 25 June, 2007
Sinead nominated in 2008 Meteor Ireland Music Awards
Sinead has been nominated in the Best Irish Female category for Ireland's celebrated Meteor Awards. The ceremony will be held in Dublin's RDS on Friday 15th February. The voting is open to the public, and votes can be cast in the following ways: Text VOTE to + 353 (0)85 7114444 to receive a list of keywords and categories, then choose who you want to win. Voting is open to all Irish mobile networks and will be charged standard text rates.
Online voting will be available on www.meteor.ie and everyone who votes will be automatically entered into a competition to win tickets to the 2008 Meteor Awards.
The theme song "Back Where You Belong' from the Revolution Studios/Sony Pictures movie 'The Water Horse' was written and performed by Sinead and produced by Daniel Lanois and features on the soundtrack.
To order 'The Water Horse' Soundtrack from Amazon click here. To visit the 'The Water Horse' website click here.
