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Sinead O'Connor Live, September 1, 1997, Canada, Toronto, Massey Hall

By; KFA

As I expected, Sinead dedicated the show to the victims of the tragic accident in Paris. The last song of the encore ("He Moved Through the Fair") was specifically dedicated to Diana Spencer and her performance was altogether spellbinding. The way she held the last note of the last word of the song was truly stunning.

Also, the audience was great: the applause after each song was extremely enthusiastic and long-lasting and that was great to hear. (In fact, at the end of the show, when Sinead told the audience this was the last song of the night, a collective sound of dismay was expressed! Sinead reminded the audience that the show had to end and that she had to go back to being a mom in two days!) She was dressed quite casually in dull-colored clothes and, as with other reports from earlier in the tour I have read off of the internet, she did not move a great deal from one central spot on the stage.

Personally, I thought that the "loud" songs had something of a muddy, boomy sound but, despite this, the musicians (especially the cellist and the guitarist) played superbly throughout the show. The sound on the songs with a sparse arrangement (or no band at all) was, however, more-or-less perfect.

The highlights for me were the following songs: "Perfect Indian" (my all-time favorite Sinead O'Connor song) was performed in absolutely flawless fashion, a true vocal masterpiece; "John I Love You" was dedicated to the band she said she would very much miss and was performed to perfection as well; "Thank You For Hearing Me" was greeted with great enthusiasm from the audience and was very good; "Tiny Grief Song" was as flawless as "Perfect Indian" and the ensemble singing of the Screaming Orphans worked perfectly here: everybody in the place was spellbound by this performance; "Redemption Song" was sung beautifully; "Last Day of Our Acquaintance" was both a crowd favorite as well as being a showcase for the talents of both Sinead and her band.

All in all, the show expressed in its finest moments the incomparable artistry of Sinead O'Connor and that, of course, is something to see.

 kfa, Toronto

By; Suzy Aston

First of all, I was most impressed with the audience. You could hear a pin drop during her performance (in fact, during Perfect Indian, my friend sneezed and I'm sure Sinead heard) however, as mentioned, the audience was stunning after each song, a round of applause that had Sinead saying thank you several times over as well as a mini curtsee (ew sp??). She seemed extremely relaxed and happy. She was enjoying her night making jokes with the crew (where I was sitting I could see all the antics going on off to the side of the stage).

Another note, she didn't play tiny grief song. The set list was exactly the same except....He moved through the fair was changed to _She_ moved through the fair as it was dedicated to Diana and, I will confess, I had never thought too much of that song and i questioned why she put it on the album as I though ON Raglan Road would have been a much better candidate, however, her performance last night was...incredible - it was sung softly and beautifully (with only one clearing of the throat near the end).

She made a lot of dedications throughout the show - she dedicated "Thankyou for hearing me" to the audience, and changed one of the "thankyou for loving me"s to a "thanks for hte bracelet you gave" or something like that - it was cute :)

I loved the performance - I think it was one of the most special I have seen in a while. It has given me a new impression of Sinead.

Another note - it seemed her voice was impeccable (hm, I think my spelling is off this late night!) - as Fire on Babylon was the best I've ever heard out of all the bootlegs I have with that song. I believe she forgot a verse in This is the last day of our acquaintance, as she didn't sing her "you were no life raft to me" verse and after singing (instead) this is the last day... verse she put her hand to her mouth and looked surprised at her band mates...I don't know maybe it was for another reason, as musicians, they covered it up smoothly and the audience didn't have a clue.

As it was the last night of the North American tour, a couple of out of the ordinary things happened: John Reynolds joined the Screaming Orphans onstage for "Crybaby" and played drums while Joan was out front singing. She turned round with a very surprised look on her face. Soon after, for "Rude Awakening" the Orphans acquired their own backing singers one of whom was Sinead.