The weather forecast had said 'rain', but thankfully that only turned out to apply to the early afternoon, and not much at that (at least not in Dun Laoghaire, where I was until I went to town for the gig), so by the time the Delorentos took the stage around 6.30 pm, the sky was clearing to reveal a lovely blue hue.
The venue was Dublin Castle, more specifically the big courtyard - very nice. The space was divided by a small stripe of 'no-man's-land', similar to the lay-out U2 had in Croke Park, although on a much smaller scale. I went into the front section and stood with my back to the barrier. That way, I still had a good view, but didn't get the crush from behind that you would invariably get even a bit of, if you were standing at the very front. Also, it meant there was plenty of room to dance. :)
The Delorentos are an up-and-coming Dublin band. I thought the music was good, and they definitely have passion, which is always great, but I'm afraid I didn't find their stuff all that original. I already have records by Coldplay, The Killers, Snow Patrol and Editors, so I won't be adding Delorentos to the collection, if you get my drift.
Next up were Kíla, an Irish band playing jigs and reels and songs as Gaeilge, plus a lot more. Very infectious! One guy in the audience, near me, had a couple of good Riverdance moves :) The band were obviously enjoying themselves immensely, and played up a really great storm. At one point a band member asked us to scream at front man and bodhrán player Rónán Ó Snodaigh, because it was his birthday. We did our best, hehe.
Then, finally, at 9 pm - Sinéad. I am going to try and reconstruct the set list, as far as I remember, but I'm warning you now that the sequence may not be correct (I've given the album and year in brackets though, because I know that much for sure)
'The Emperor's New Clothes' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'I Am Stretched On Your Grave' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart' (In The Name Of The Father soundtrack 1994)
'My Lagan Love' (Sean-Nós Nua 2002)
'Jump In The River' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
Two songs from her new album 'Theology' - can't remember the titles. I think one of them was 'Something Beautiful'
'Nothing Compares 2 U' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'Never Get Old' (The Lion & The Cobra 1987)
'The Lamb's Book Of Life' (Faith & Courage 2000)
'This Is The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance' (I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1990)
'Mandinka' (The Lion & The Cobra 1987)
'Thank You For Hearing Me' (Universal Mother 1994)
'Fire On Babylon' (Universal Mother 1994)
'In This Heart' (Universal Mother 1994)
For the encore, she played 2 new songs from 'Theology' (including an adapted version of 'Rivers Of Babylon'). One was called 'If You Had A Vineyard'.
She was in great form throughout the gig, and was getting a bit of a kick out of the massive response to 'Nothing Compares 2 U', I think. She played a lot of my favorite songs, like 'You Made Me The Thief...', 'I Am Stretched...' and 'In This Heart'. The last song is an a capella song on the album, where she starts out singing the first verse alone, and then harmonies are gradually added in subsequent verses. Nothing about that changes on the live version, only who provides the harmonies. It's absolutely gorgeous. Hearing that, on a clear evening, in May, in Dublin, with the crowd being completely silent (for once) was just fantastic. Her voice has lost nothing of its force after all these years of singing - amazing both to watch and to listen to.
Concert was over app. half past 10, so plenty of time to catch a bus home. All in all, an evening very well spent....
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