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"Sinead O'Conner, San Francisco, August 13, 1997

By Terry Garcia-Shaver (handed by YKC)

Sinead O'Connor sang the praises of Ireland and the foibles of humanity  in a meandering 75 minute set August 13 at the sold out Warfield Theater. After telling the audience she would no longer sing miserable  songs, this pagan Joan of Arc in Adidas sportswear performed songs,  mostly from her last two releases, that touched on personal and  spiritual redemption and longing.

This second show of a two night run started before the lights dimmedwhile the guitarist was strumming what was to become "The Emperor's New Clothes." O'Conner, mother of two herself, noticed a baby in the front row and on her prompting a stage hand offered a pair of ear plugs to the child's parents.

The power and clarity of O'Conner's voice perfectly aligned itself with her back-up singers, the four young members of the opening act The Screaming Orphans. Their giddiness was eminently apparent as their body language reverberated, "We're on stage with Sinead!" It must be said that O'Conner's voice, both inner and outer, has been all but been ignored since her infamous Saturday Night Live performance and the fiasco that followed at the Bob Dylan tribute concert where she was booed off stage.

Backed by a seven piece band, O'Conner did not play any guitar on this night. On tender songs like "John I Love You," she was accompanied by only guitar and piano. The band let Sinead reach for a message that transcended her past public and private pain as in the song "Petit Poulet" from her latest EP, Gospel Oak, "...now all is OK--the life you left behind won't find you--the love you kept inside will come."

"Universal Mother" and "Gospel Oak" both played well that evening asthey used Sinead's voice to hearken the idea that love heals and we should all kiss our plight. Songs like "This IS a Rebel Song," spoke softly of the closing chasm between England and the singer's native Ireland. O'Conner's on-stage personae was awkward at times, but the audience was clearly on her side, some demonstrating their affection by throwing flowers on stage.

Other highlights included a beautiful acappella number followed by a scorching "Fire on Babylon," as well as the set closer "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance." The band returned for a pair of encores, Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and the lovely "He Moved Through the Fair." O'Conner did not sing any "miserable" songs on this night; only honest ones. Her voice carried the evening with a sense of both urgency and fragility, revealing why she is one of the great singer-songwriters of
our time."