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Sinead O'Connor Live, August 28th 1997, Boston, USA, Harborlights

Set list

Emperor's new Clothes
You made me the thief of your heart
Stretched on your grave
perfect indian
this is a rebel song
John, I love you
This is to mother you
Petit Poulet
Thank you for hearing me
In this heart
Fire on Babylon
Last day of our acquaintance

Encore 1
redemption song
He moved through the fair

Encore 2
Famine

 By; Bret Kerr <bkerr@cnc.com>

First of all, I have to say that I had front row center tickets, so it was a totally different experience than when I saw Sinead at the Fleadh festival earlier in the summer. The Screaming Orphans were good, although the keyboardist looked really despondent. Sinead just walked on with the rest of her band and said hello a few times. She had some problems with her earpice for the first couple of songs and was in constant unspoken dialogue with the sound guy. She opened with Emperor's New Clothes and went into Thief of My Heart. The song with just her and the Orphans and then her other three musicians on vocals was chilling. She wore black jeans and a black clingy button down shirt. She closed her eyes for a lot of songs. But she received a standing ovation after each song (from my friend and me at least). Unsurprisingly, Fire on Babylon and Last day . . . were the crowd favorites. But everything from Gospel Oak was stunning. And then end of Marley's redemption song was great to!

o. As a special encore she performed famine, saying it is only the 2nd time on this tour that she has played it, She dedicated it to all the Irish in Boston. She also played Stretched. The backdrop was funky lav lamp like white bubbles that had things projected onto them. The cellist was great. She had a big vase of flowers and two people gave her bouquets (which she left at the front of the stage). I snuck in a camera, so hopefully I got a few shots. It was a great show. The Boston Globe (boston.com) ran a less favorable review saying in effect, she sound great, but she has lost the fire of youth or of being angry. Her hair was reddish and she had bangs and it went down in back. She didn't dance much; she just sort of swayed back and forth. But she laughed when she saw the Orphans dancing so enthusiastically (except for the keyboardist). It was a great show.

By Joshua Burke

Well, this is the second time ive seen Sinead this year,,1st show was in Providence back in June. Also, first time to Harborlights in Boston. On to the show. She was excellent, "Petit Poulet" was the best song in the set. The band was really energetic. Screaming Orphans are great, they also opened for Sinead,,that was a great treat. "This is a Rebel Song" was great,quiet,the crowd didn't really seem to be into the new stuff except for "He moved through the fair", possibly because it is in the Movie "MICHAEL COLLLINS" and another reason,was everyone was sitting,,security would not let anyone stand and dance because the seats are on a flat surface,not like most venues that elevate from the front to the back. By the end, everyone was on their feets. "Emperor's new clothes," "Stretched...," and "Last day of our acquaintance" were great. A lot of the people,you could tell were expecting "Nothing compares 2 U" They were all in their yuppie clothes. You see, Harborlight!

s is this nice little pavillion under a tent with tables and nice food. DONT GO THERE to See a show. But the great surprise of the evening was a second encore of "Famine" because as she said "Ive only played this once before and because of the Irish population in Boston, Ill play it for you..." or something like that...

Josh from Boston

Great sounding show,,,but terrible place to see it...

From John:

Harborlights proved to be an excellent location for a concert. The large open sided tent located on a pier offered a beautiful view of the Boston skyline and harbor. Although it did not appear to be sold out, there was a good sized crowd and most of the venues 4800 seats were taken. It was a warm and humid night, threatening rain. The crowd was a wide mix of all ages, tiedyes, business people, some flourescent hair, and a large irish contigent.

The Screaming Orphans took the stage around 7:45 and played half an hour of average rock.

At about 8:45 the lights went down and Sinead led her band onto the stage. She wore a two piece black outfit, pants and jacket. Sinead didn't play guitar at all. She stayed mostly at the front of the stage, sometimes swaying to the music. Her band consisted of 4 backup singers (The Screaming Orphans) off to the right, a drummer, electric guitar, bass, keyboard, and on some songs a woman playing a stringed instrument that looked like a cello.

She started out with a solo electric rhythm guitar strumming the opening to Emperor's New Clothes. It was played pretty close to the studio version, with an easy beat. She changed one verse, singing, "You asked if I'm scared, and I said 'Hell no'". This is one of my favorite songs, but it didn't have the same energy that I get from the CD version. It sounded a little laid back, and oddly, the audience didn't seem that familiar with the song.

This was followed by You Made Me a Thief of Your Heart. I hadn't heard this song before, but I thought it was one of the better songs of the beginning of the set.

Sinead dedicated the next song to all the dead people among us, which drew some large applause. The band started into I am Stretched on Your Grave. This is another of my favorites, and it was done very well live. The song clicked well with the vocals between Sinead and her backup singers. The audience was finally getting into the show and gave rousing applause.

She sang A Perfect Indian with a beautiful and clear voice. Again, very close to the studio version.

Next came This Is a Rebel Song, which is my favorite from Gospel Oak.

Between songs, Sinead said that the next song was really a song about herself, then launched into John, I Love You. The song was nicely arranged although it is awkward to do live.

Sinead then sang two songs from her newest CD (Gospel Oak). She did Petit Poulet, which honestly isn't one of my favorites. It was well done and faithful to the CD version. After that she did This is to Mother You. This was just as beautiful live as it is on CD. Sinead was really into her new songs and the band was very tight.

Sinead moved next into Thank You for Hearing Me, which seemed to be the audience's favorite as they cheered loudly at the intro. By this time, Sinead was in a groove, and this turned out to be another awesome song. The song slowly built up energy verse by verse, and Sinead was singing wonderfully throughout.

Everyone grew silent as Sinead started singing a cappela In this Heart. This song was one of the highlights of the set. It started off with Sinead alone in the spotlight on a darkened stage. Then other members of the band joined in, appearing in spotlights one by one as the song went on. It was a great effect that produced goosebumps, and drew the loudest applause of the night to that point.

After that, Sinead started to kick it into another gear, and she said something like, "Ok, here we go," as the stage was lit up in bright red and orange light. There was a repeating recorded voice that said, "This song should be be played at maximum volume, preferably in residential neighborhoods," over the heavy bass intro to Fire on Babylon. The band and audience were really into this song. Sinead played an extended remix of the song and was at her most animated of the evening repeatedly screaming out the chorus "Fire!" at the top of her lungs. A lot of the crowd was standing and dancing through the song.

Next, the guitar player strummed an acoustic intro to Last Day of Our Acquaintance. I love this song, and it was possibly the best number she did this night. In contrast to Emporer's New Clothes off the same album, this song had even more energy than the CD version. Sinead picked up more and more momentum as the song went on, ending up screaming the chorus, "I know your answer already," with a total and bitter intensity. As the song was ending, Sinead suddenly fired up a reprise and sang the last verse again, shouting the chorus even louder than before. This was the last song of the set, and Sinead waved to the cheering crowd and said something like, "Ok, that's it...unless of course you want me to come out again."

After a few moments, Sinead and her band returned for an encore. She started right into Redemption Song by Bob Marley. Ironically, this is probably my favorite Bob Marley song. She sang a nice version of it, but she naturally sounds so radically different from Bob Marley's voice that it didn't really click for me.

Following that song, her band walked off the stage and only Sinead and the cello player were left. Sinead started into a beautiful version of He Moved Through the Fair. It was very well done, and the combination of Sinead and the string instrument sounded perfect. At the finish, the crowd was on its feet and amid loud applause, Sinead said goodnight again.

I was ready to head out at this point, since I knew from this website that that was the song she always ends with. But the house lights remained dark and the crowd kept cheering. Suddenly, Sinead and her entire band walked back out on stage. She said something like, "We don't normally do another song, we've only done this once before. Since there are so many irish here, this song is for us." Then with a pounding background beat, she started into Famine. It sounded very close to the studio version. The crowd remained on its feet and danced or swayed throughout the song. At the conclusion, Sinead said something like, "Ok, this time we're really going," and waved goodnight.

Here is my bias ranking of the songs performed:

Awesome:

The Last Day of Our Acquaintance / Fire on Babylon / In This Heart / Thank You for Hearing Me

Outstanding:

This is a Rebel Song / You Made Me a Thief of Your Heart / This Is to Mother You / He Moved Through the Fair / I Am Stretched on Your Grave

Good:

Emperor's New Clothes / Famine / A Perfect Indian

Didn't click for me:

Redemption Song / Petit Poulet / John I Love You

This was the first time I've seen Sinead in concert. I've been a major fan of hers for a few years now. I'd say she is my favorite artist. It was great to have this website describe the set lists, so that I knew ahead of time which songs were going to be played. I suppose it ruins the surprise a little, but it's nice to be able to listen to all the songs ahead of time. I know some people were upset that she wasn't playing anything off of Lion & Cobra, but she played virtually all of my favorite songs (except You Cause as Much Sorrow). I Do Not Want...is my favorite CD, followed by Gospel Oak, then Universal Mother, so her set list was perfect in my opinion.

The show was pretty much as I expected, especially after reading so many reviews on the 'net. I would have thought the crowd would have been more familiar with all the songs she played. I guess I was expecting a more hardcore Sinead crowd. I think Sinead did a great job, her band was very good, and it was a good mix of songs. It took a few songs for Sinead and her band to really start getting into it, but that's to be expected. By the middle of the show, Sinead and the crowd were in full swing.

I heard that the Boston Globe review complained that Sinead wasn't the same angry Sinead as she used to be. I think that's a fairly silly comment. The reviews in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune seemed more accurate.