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TORONTO - Imagine one of the world's most impressive voices paired with one of the globe's most talented and respected rhythm sections.
On Saturday night at Kool Haus, that's what you got as Irish singer Sinead O' Connor performed with legendary Jamaican duo Sly (Dunbar) on drums and Robbie (Shakespeare) on bass. They were playing in support of her latest album of reggae covers, Throw Down Your Arms, in front of a sold-out crowd.
The concert was important for that hookup alone -- Sly and Robbie are estimated to have played on 200,000 tracks since they came together in the '70s in Kingston as musicians/ producers -- and O'Connor hasn't played Toronto in eight years.
There was definitely excitement in the air as a wildly diverse audience of young and old, black and white, straight and gay, parents and kids, and the Rastafarian faithful settled in for a night featuring a special collaboration.
Sly, almost impossible to see as he sat way down low behind his drum kit, and partially blocked by Robbie, an imposing man in a baseball hat and sunglasses, let the solos rip early and often during a rowdy 50-minute set with the duo's six-piece band.
O'Connor, dressed down in a denim shirt and jeans and wearing a do-rag on her shaved head, then walked on stage to open her hour-and-35-minute set with Jah Nuh Dead, also the first track off Throw Down Your Arms.
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Anyone expecting to hear any of her pop hits would have been seriously disappointed because -- as she warned in an earlier Sun interview -- she isn't performing them anymore.
Instead, fans were treated to reggae classics sung in that incredible piercing voice, sometimes with the help of a female backup singer who arrived by the second song, Marcus Garvey.
Highlights included He Prayed, Curly Locks, Prophet Has Arise, Vampire, the title track from Throw Down Your Arms, Downpressor Man, Rivers Of Babylon, and War, which all showcased O' Connor's powerful, clean and crisp vocals.
The band, meanwhile, was given plenty of leeway for both long jams and solo workouts.
O' Connor kept the stage banter to a minimum, saying a low and long, "Thank you," after every song, saving her lone outburst for the very end of the evening.
While introducing the show-ending Jah Is My Keeper, as the song she wanted her children to play at her funeral, "when I've died at a very old age of natural causes," she blurted out, "Don't let the Catholics get me!"
Otherwise, it was all about the music, which, if you dig the loose and relaxed reggae vibe, was a great thing.
For those who wanted a little more energy and variety, especially from someone with O'Connor's back catalogue, there might have been some shuffling of feet.
As it was, almost everyone was dancing and singing along and O'Connor did a little of her own fancy footwork, sometimes alone, or with one of the band members -- including Robbie.
She also claimed to have forgotten the words to some of the songs, but given their thrilling delivery, nobody really noticed.