Glasgow crowds love to make an artist feel at home – but it’s rare that an outsider settles in quite like CMAT.
As she describes how she wants a bedroom installed for her to permanently live inside the Barrowland Ballroom, there’s such a warm buzz that it’s as if everyone is mentally preparing their sofa bed and pondering the paperwork to adopt a 27-year-old Irish woman.
With a cool-but-fun country schtick, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – or CMAT – is like Lana Del Rey if her mum had raised her on Tom Jones. She is playful but powerful, silly but soulful, and unafraid to bust a move. And her tunes occupy the rare kind of sonic space that would simultaneously fit on the Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6 Music playlists.
Before tonight’s CMAT spectacle, Niamh Regan warms up an ice-cold ballroom (because of the weather – the reception wasn’t frosty) with a far less raucous but lovely solo set. Her rich and soothing voice pairs beautifully with electric guitar in a floaty folk combo.
It’s clear from the already-decked-out stage that CMAT is ready to put on a proper show. A podium, full-length mirror, suspended lampshade, swanky red curtain and neon sign set the scene – and when the band walks on, they’re all decked out in tartan. It’s a Hootenanny vibe.
As the crowd fizzes with excitement, CMAT launches into ‘California’ – a crooning number that immediately demonstrates her vocal prowess and the smooth sophistication of her songwriting.
Her morose country-pop comes packed with personality and theatrics. The antics begin early in the set, with ‘I… Hate Who I Am When I’m Horny’ and ‘I Don’t Really Care For You’. In ‘Horny’ she dances with herself in the mirror atop her podium; and midway through ‘Care’, she and her band collapse to the floor. The room falls silent. As Ciara peels herself back up from the floor and looks suspiciously from side to side, the crowd goes wild with glee.
This introduces the first of many little dance routines that she performs with backing musician Colm Conlan.
The crowd – a diverse bunch – lap it up. A young contingency in pink cowboy hats intermingle with grey beards in all-weather jackets; Millennial couples find themselves in among girls nights out. And they all seem equally enamoured.
As she stomps masterfully through a bouncy 13-song set and triple-headed encore, whether it’s the anthemic ’80s styling of ‘Phone Me’ and set closer ‘Where Are Your Kids Tonight?’ or the twangier tunes like ‘Nashville’ and ‘2 Wrecked 2 Care’, the audience is hooked on Ciara’s every note.
Although an encore is a safe bet due to certain setlist omissions, there’s no complacency from this noisy and adoring crowd when the time comes.
Ciara returns alone for a rendition of ‘Rent’, before being rejoined by her band. The room erupts as the three male musicians go taps aff for the big finale.
Expectedly, ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!’ sees the biggest singalong of the night, with the whole room side-stepping on command. And her recent single ‘Stay For Something’ is an excellent closer in a show that never really dips from a pretty high bar.
As thrilled as CMAT is to be headlining a sold out Barrowland Ballroom – and as much of an achievement as that is for any artist – it’s very, very easy to imagine that she will be strutting, shimmying and rolling around much bigger stages soon.
Photos by Fiona McKinlay