CMAT
The Piece Hall, Halifax
Friday 16thJuly 2026
Natural-born performer CMAT continues to rise in arena shows as her adoring fans went wild for a joyous set of country pop bangers.
I first saw CMAT running riot in a small tent at Sheffield’s Tramlines Festival and thought at the time this Irish bundle of energy was destined to be an arena star. This fun-filled and high-energy set in front of 5000 adoring fans was just another step for Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson along that road.
As CMAT’s ‘Super Sexy’ band struck up the opening number, The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station, she sparked possibly the biggest reception so far during this Piece Hall summer season as she strutted on in a flowing green cloak referencing her roots back home in County Meath, complete with silver sparkly hotpants and that big voice.
Last time CMAT played here she was supporting First Aid Kit as her songs had a similar country pop feel, and Jamie Oliver showed her gift for melding pop and caustic lyrics. Pedal steel punctuated a punchy I Don’t Really Care For You as CMAT climbed the stage riser to lead the lively party happening down the front.
It’s not all pure country pop, as the bittersweet When A Good Man Cries brought out the subtlety in her voice as she sang about how her insecurities made a decent man cry. Part of the fun of a CMAT gig is her constant engagement as she reads out signs made by her adoring fans and gently joshes the numerous kids in the audience saying: ‘all the other gigs are going to be so bad after this.’ Aw, Shoot! ups the tempo despite the dark lyrics from when CMAT was battling her own demons, seeking inspiration in a grim Paris apartment.
A sea of arms shot up as the band gathered round their leader for a wistful Running/Planning. CMAT spotted that the director of the nearby Bronte Museum was in the audience, so she launched into a quite sensational cover of Wuthering Heights as her tribute to the iconic sisters who also defied outdated societal conventions. As the audience joined in CMAT’s sweeping arm movements from the classic video, you’d have sworn, if you’d closed your eyes, that Kate Bush herself was in the house.
CMAT talked movingly about her own issues with how she had been portrayed in the media as a performer who isn’t seen as being the classic pop shape before the ironic Take a Sexy Picture Of Me, which is her witty and honest take on body shaming. As well as being a massive banger, it certainly struck a chord as women all around me struck mocking ‘sexy’ poses and laughed together at the absurdity of how the media demonises women for being who they are.
Where Are Your Kids Tonight? featured a lovely duet and dance with keyboardist Colm Conlan, and then CMAT strapped on an acoustic guitar for a short solo set. Before Nashville, she mused how she was overcome by the love she was getting and that success ‘shouldn’t happen to a girl like me’.
At every CMAT show before playing her country pop classic, I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby!, she invites the sell-out crowd to join the band in doing the Dunboyne County Meath Two-Step, which is a simple side-to-side line dancing step. A mum and dad joined their young daughter to create a memory that the family will never forget, but more than that, there was something intensely moving about watching 5000 people shuffle from side to side in perfect unison.
Another CMAT tradition is to create a walkway through the audience for the set closer Stay For Something as she dived into the heart of her ever-growing fanbase that was once dominated by the LGBTQ community, but is now much more mixed.
Some people were born to play live. CMAT is one of them, as she offered a show that is rich in big country pop tunes but is also just as much about inclusivity and loving who you are, which is much needed at the moment as the far right’s homophobia rears its ugly head.
You can follow CMAT on FacebookandTwitter.
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Words by Paul Clarke; you can see his author profile here.
Photos by Frank Ralph; you can find Frank at his website | Instagram| and Facebook
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