After building substantial credibility with her 1987 debut album The Lion and The Cobra and attaining multi-platinum success with the Prince-penned hit "Nothing Compares 2 U" in '90, gifted singer/tireless provocateur Sinead O'Connor basically wore out her entertainment-industry welcome sometime during the mid-'90s via a series of increasingly bizarre outbursts and announcements.
She's continued to release records since, but most were compilations and collaborations; little new music saw the light of day until last month, when she released a surprisingly well-received collection of reggae covers called Throw Down Your Arms. The disc was recorded with legendary producers Sly and Robbie at Kinston, Jamaica's equally iconic Tuff Gong Studios.
Now, O'Connor is returning to the road. Her only Florida appearance for this tour is in perfect keeping with her penchant for eccentricity — it's being held at tiny, marvelous Tampa Irish pub Four Green Fields, where she'll be ably backed by Sly and Robbie's session band. The sweet seats are a bit pricey, and parking is definitely going to be a bitch, but this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catch one of music's most talked-about iconoclasts in an intimate setting.
Sinead O'Connor, Wednesday, Dec. 7 @ Four Green Fields, Tampa. 6:30 p.m.; $37.50-$100.
This article appears in Nov 30 – Dec 6, 2005.
