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June 28 - USA - San Jose - Spartan Stadium Fields - Fleadh festival

emporer's new clothes
thief of your heart
stretched on your grave
*factory girl????
NC2U
thank you for hearing me
in this heart
fire on babylon
last day of our acquaintance
encore: she moved thru the fair

by; Claudia

i was really worried about these FLEADH shows based on the other reviews i was reading...the horror of crowds generally guides me away from big festivals like this, but i have to say our experience was entirely pleasant overall.

we sat thru almost every performer on the main stage until 4:30 or so when we bailed on WILCO to go to the 2nd stage to see (guitar hero) richard thompson. then back to our blankie in the hot hot sun to wait for sinead. the sun went down & we pulled on long pants & jackets & such & just as dark was approaching SINEAD came on.

we were nowhere NEAR as close as at lilith, about 2/3 of the way back toward the sound booth and to the right but not far from center. not bad really, but i forgot my GLASSES and i had to squint & details weren't as clear as i'd like. SINEAD WORE: loose pants with big pockets in a dark color and a zippered sweater looking top. i couldn't see her shoes & didn't notice nail polish or not & she hadn't much, if any, make-up on i don't think.

when she introduced what i think was "factory girl" she said "change of plans. we're going to do a little irish song cos we don't get no other chance." the song begins, "as i went walking one summer morning..."

when she introduced NC2U she said "anyone who knows this must sing along or you will be killt" in a strange fake nazi from a movie accent. but then the way she sang it was truly beautiful & evocative this night. maybe it seemed crap at lilith because it was hurried and embarrassed at the end of the set, but this was just lovely. people did the aaah ahhhs and she was laughing but still singing with feeling.

she made the same comment "if you must sing, sing an irish song" that i've seen posted.

she came back out to sing "she moved thru the fair" (first encore of the day) and i had to tell some yapping frat boys near my ear to shut up till the song was over. the crowd was at a pretty comfortable distance until it was sinead's turn to play & everyone gathered in. we were COMPLETELY bummed that X was playing at the exact same time as sinead. not only did we wanna see them, their set was so loud it was kinda distracting during sinead's. DOH! also, it was good to be standing & dancing this time, which would've felt weird at lilith, when she OPENED. overall the fleadh was good fer me, i didn't have to wait in long lines for beer or water or toilets (tho i did spend $25 on BEVERAGES only---wot ROBBERY!) i felt sorry for tracy chapstick who was playing AFTER sinead, it looked like she was gonna be singing to a lot of waterbottles & trash. many many people bailed after sinead, she was the real headliner. shane macgowan was headlining on the second stage after her but we were beat & he was probably smashed, so we went home.

in the SF EXAMINER yesterday (tues june 30) there was a small photo of sinead laughing on the front page with a by-line that said there was a fleadh review inside. in the entertainment section was a HUGE photo of sinead singing, wide open mouth & hand up, fingers spread. the review mentions her set toward the end but hadn't much to say other than her voice soared as the temperature plummetted and she did hits and irish songs. regardless, she was obviously the star.

thus concludes my summer's entertainment budget!