From the hicks (and Frank Sinatra), who went ape-shit because she dissed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” to the Catholics, who had hernias after she ripped a pic of the pope on national TV, Sinead O’Conner has managed to offend some of the U.S. of A.’s most powerful people. And that doesn’t even count the college rockers who sniffed at the standards album Am I Not Your Girl?—which, judging from the ignored follow-up, Universal Mother, was nearly every one of them. But even when the doe-eyed singer’s logic is fuzzy, her voice remains crystalline. O’Connor’s new six-song EP, Gospel Oak, presents the Voice in a serene setting that suits the stereos of mystics as well as NPR listeners, but the hicks probably still hate her. O’Connor croons with the Screaming Orphans at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Ballroom, 1015 Half St. SE. $25. (202) 554-1500. (Christopher Porter)