CMAT: Instore-palooza Weekender!
- Alex Gafney
- Nov 22, 2023
- 4 min read
Words and Photos by Alex Gafney
Edited by Miyuki Wang
Irish singer-songwriter and (self-acclaimed) popstar CMAT (Ciara Mary Alice Thompson) has by far been one of my favourite music discoveries in the past few years. Thompson's music to its core has a big country influence, mixed with indie, pop, disco and lyrics laced with humour and pop culture; 'Who needs god when I have Robbie Williams?' being a personal favourite and standout. Breaking into the scene with a country pop tune about crying over KFC after a breakup and with her debut 2022 album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead claiming top spot in the Irish charts, came CMAT to critical acclaim, winning the Irish Choice Music Prize for Album of the year, as well as an incredibly fun set of shows, festival seasons, going to 'Nashville' and even performing with her teen heroes Bombay Bicycle Club.
Flash forward to October 2023 and Thompson is already on her second album release Crazymad, For Me, a concept album using time travel as a tool to delve into her heartbreak Thompson has also described it as ‘bat out of hell by meatloaf but for the girls’. Stand-out tracks for me include ‘Rent’ a highly anticipated song by fans after its live debut earlier this year, ‘Vincent Kompany’ and ‘Have Fun!’ referencing all sorts from the tale of Jimi Hendrix and The Parakeets to the 2004 animated feature film Spirited Away.
After having only seen CMAT perform as a part of Declan McKenna & Friends and having to miss her debut album tour, I jumped at the opportunity for this album cycle. I was lucky enough to attend the two London in-stores in one weekend, the first being a Rough Trade East Live and Signing. This being on the album release day meant I naturally spent all morning with Crazymad, For Me on repeat. I had lots of fun spotting CMAT fans infiltrate Shoreditch throughout the day in merch or just a lot of glitter and the obvious… cowboy boots. As 7 pm arrived, fans loaded into the record store, picking up their pre-bought physical copies of the anticipated album ready for the latter signing. Dotted around the store were the original album and singles artwork for the album, all for sale and by Seatton through the charity art studio ARTBOX, an art studio and gallery based in London, helping, and supporting people with learning disabilities to create and exhibit their work.
When CMAT entered the stage, there was just one guitar and an Omnichord. She stated that she had also made a specific setlist and had decided to ignore it almost entirely, and moved between side-stepping setlist staples such as ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’ and new album singles like ‘Where Are Your Kids Tonight?’ to the audiences requests of debut album tracks such as ‘Communion’.
Although this was a stripped back acoustic set, Thompson's joy is so infectious and I was truly in awe of her vocals and charisma the whole night so a full band show just down the road at Pryzm Kingston the next day was an absolute must.
After somehow playing Bristol in the morning of the day, Kingston was simply not ready. As the screens lit up with the album artwork, ‘5,6,7,8’ by steps blasted through the speakers, weirdly the perfect song to sum up what she’s all about. As it was my first full band CMAT show, I was super excited to hear the songs soundtracking the last couple years of my life like ‘I Don’t Really Care for You’, ‘2 Wrecked 2 Care’ and my personal favourite ‘Peter Bogdanovich’, a unique perspective of an homage to the actor and director of the same name, focusing on the point of view of the actress he left his wife for, with lyrics like ‘I like you Peter, I wish you were a wife leaver.’ With Thompson doing the splits mid-song, this was a standout performance for sure. Other stand-out moments throughout the show included the moment CMAT spotted someone mid-crowd in an Irish Rugby shirt, listening to the ongoing match with one earphone in, asking us to think of Ireland throughout, with scores being updated. Another being the strong chemistry between Ciara and keyboard player Colm Conlon, performing powerful yet fun dance duets in songs like ‘I Don’t Really Care For You,’ and taking over John Grant's vocals in the duet ‘Where Are Your Kids Tonight?’. The song ‘Have Fun!’ had a perfectly precisely choreographed and synchronized dance sequence between CMAT and Colm that really stuck with me.
As well as CMAT asking everyone to wave their hands in the air, creating the effect for the lyric ‘One thousand bright green birds atop a Tesco in Clapham.' The set ended with fan favourite ‘I Wanna be a Cowboy, Baby!’ starting with the iconic call and response ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?’ ‘A COWBOY BABY!!!’ with the whole crowd side-stepping along in unison. At the end of the evening, we had the chance to talk, take photos with the woman herself, even picking up some CMAT cake!
CMAT’s performances are always full of such self-love and charisma and the joy of being at one of her shows is simply infectious and I would recommend it as well as her music, to everyone, perhaps her international popstar status is becoming less self-acclaimed as she really does keep on getting better.
CMAT is currently on tour in the UK and coming to a city near you! As well as a long list of international tour dates for 2024, in addition to this, her biggest London and Dublin headline shows yet, O2 Forum Kentish town and Fairview Park next summer.
Don’t forget to stream/buy Crazymad, For Me, buy a ticket, sign up to the mailing list, buy a pair of cowboy boots, You won’t regret it!!!!
... Check out CMAT's official website for all of the above along with her Instagram and YouTube Channel.
Thank you Alex for making a big comeback on ALD and writing for us again. ALD is kept alive thanks to you, and all of you who continue to show us your love and support!
We would always love to welcome any of you to join us by writing about gigs you've been to, albums you've listened to, or simply artists/bands that you love. Please don't ever hesitate to get in touch with us with your ideas via Instagram DM (@notaluciddream) or email (notaluciddream@gmail.com).
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