Saw her live in NYC back in 2005 when she was doing roots reggae.
Sly & Robbie was the rhythm section, with Burning Spear on vocals and percussion. Maybe Mikey Chung on guitar?
I was totally surprised at the combination — this Crazy Baldhead amongst Dreads — but one of the best live shows I've been to. Surrounded by reggae icons, she was a boss on that stage.
That was likely due to her collaborations with both Adrian Sherwood/On-U Sound initially, but she was a long time admirer of roots and dubwise. The caribbean influence in UK/Irish pop culture is much stronger than in the US (other than hip hop).
As a fan of Dub Syndicate, I didn't know they collaborated, thanks for this info.
Before seeing her live, I hadn't know a lot about her besides "Nothing Compares 2 U" and of course the SNL controversy... realizing much later she had sung Bob Marley's "War" while wearing red, gold, and green.
Just now thinking about her performance of "Vampire" that night is giving me goosebumps. She was a real one.
I'm an On-U Sound obsessive to some degree (I'm an acquaintance with one of Adrian's sound engineers, and I've met a few of the lads from Tackhead) but man the guy gets around. Just this year were new albums from Horace Andy, African Head Charge and this week Creation Rebel announced their first album in 30+ years.
The more post-punk reissues (e.g. New Age Steppers) is also right up my alley.
But yes, I got the impression early on that Sinead had more than passing familiarity with roots and dub. It just seemed to be always at least at the edges of every album in one way or another. On "Faith + Courage" it was quite prominent.
Isn’t the stereotype (and possibly reality) that Irish women are full of moxie and maybe or maybe not respected for it depending on who cares?
Like she experienced IRA bombings and you’re saying she’s supposed to be intimidated by reggae artists who smoke weed and practice non-violence and/or intimidated by their fans who do so?
Sly & Robbie was the rhythm section, with Burning Spear on vocals and percussion. Maybe Mikey Chung on guitar?
I was totally surprised at the combination — this Crazy Baldhead amongst Dreads — but one of the best live shows I've been to. Surrounded by reggae icons, she was a boss on that stage.
Big up Sinéad! An incredible musician.