Music / Reviews
Review: CMAT, SWX – ‘A renaissance cowgirl dream’
One of my favourite games is guessing who’s playing a venue by their fans queuing outside. Outside SWX on Saturday night, following a sea of Cowboy boots, hats, neckerchiefs, and cowprint everything, there’s no doubt that we’re here for CMAT.
Ireland’s country-pop darling’s fans like to stick to a uniform, and in her words, we’re slaying.
CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) is wearing her own uniform too: a delicately embellished corset tasselled to the gods, cowboy boots poking from a huge tulle skirt.
Her tooth gems twinkle as they catch the light – she’s glowing, a renaissance cowgirl dream.
I first saw Thompson supporting Declan McKenna back in 2021, where she declared herself a ‘sexy b*tch with a guitar’.
Now she’s got a whole band, and in track Have Fun, calls herself a ‘silly b*tch’ instead. (As did Miriam Margolyes on Graham Norton recently).
She’s gracefully lent into her tomfoolery, with lyrics about Rebecca Vardy’s account (Phone Me), Sex and the City (Such A Miranda), and even a whole song wishing film director Peter Bogdanovich (RIP) would leave his wife for her.
She’s funny on-stage too – she tries to think of a famous Bristolian but can only come up with Josie Gibson from Big Brother (she hopes she eats Nigel Farage on I’m A Celebrity), and recounts the first time she played here (something to do with the venue maybe disliking Irish people because they wouldn’t let her have any butter).
She’s even taken her bedroom on tour with her: leopard print lampshades hang from the ceiling, and a giant ornate mirror leans against the back of the stage. There’s also a giant neon CMAT sign, which I hope she keeps in her actual bedroom.
She sings to the mirror, occasionally sits down on the floor, and dances around with her bandmates as if she really is alone in her room.
But the crowd are as much a part of this performance too: she teaches us how to two step to fan favourite I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!, and instructs us to sing along (as if we haven’t been through the whole gig).
CMAT is an icon.
I can still see her neon nameplate when I close my eyes (especially lit up as the Irish flag), but I’m not mad about it.
Main photo: Mia Smith
Read next:
- Review: BC Camplight, SWX – ‘His songs take on a completely new lease of life’
- Review: Ward Knutur Townes, Downend Folk & Roots – ‘Folk in its widest sense’
- Review: Flook, Redgrave Theatre – ‘An absolute powerhouse’
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