The drive from Westwood to Downtown Los Angeles at 7pm on a Wednesday is full of iconic sights. Rolling down Wilshire Avenue for nearly an hour, I spotted music landmarks, The Wiltern and El Rey Theatre, shuffling in concertgoers under big lights. The Bellwether stood in a quiet part of town, but with an equally excited audience awaiting the night.
In addition to supporting Brandi Carlile on “The Human Tour,” Irish indie-pop artist, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (better known as CMAT), had a packed year touring her most recent album: EURO-COUNTRY. Though most popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom, CMAT has made recent indie waves for her campy lyricism, emotional storytelling, and blend of musical genres. Much of Gen Z can recognize her work in the song, “Take a Sexy Picture of Me” with a post-chorus that blew up on social media or in Olivia Rodrigo’s BBC cover of “When a Good Man Cries.”
In preparation for the show’s spectacle, Tik Tok sensation, known for odes to her ‘high gummygirl’ daughter, Blond in Car rocked the stage in a plaid yellow pantsuit. After her opening set, Blond in Car wandered around the venue singing along to the headliner and being one with the crowd. As I waited for 9 o’ clock to strike, I couldn’t help but notice the vibrancy of the room. Friend groups gathered, and a woman pressed up at the barricade tapped me on the shoulder to praise how happy she was seeing a photo pit of all female photographers, a rare sight for the music industry. Before the first chord could strike, I knew this night would be a standout for the community alone.
Just then, CMAT stunned the room as she appeared on the crowd’s balcony singing the opening lyrics to her song, “Janis Joplining.” Illuminated by a single spotlight, she sang directly to viewers beside her as a way of signifying that she too is one of us. Afterwards, a full band dressed in all red emerged under lights to “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station” with an instantly infectious energy. Between big dance movements, whipping her hair around the mic, and complimenting individual audience members’ outfits, she only solidified the collective energy I sensed before.
As soon as the opening three beats to “When a Good Man Cries” kicked in, so did the audience. The song explores feelings of guilt when trying to portray a perfect image. With metaphors such as Dorian Gray and Catholic references such as “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord, have mercy”) from her childhood in the church, CMAT begged with a powerful belt and emotionally captured the room. Despite a couple technical difficulties, she held this attention through anecdotes from her past LA performances proving to be a captivating storyteller both through song and words.
She then proceeded by bantering with concertgoers and playing a few fan-requested selections, taking on a theatrical sound and larger-than-life stage persona. After allowing each band member to dance under the spotlight to an a capella rendition of “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus, CMAT joked that she only has one song ‘turned on the radio,’ and thus, drum beats were hit. She confidently sang “Take a Sexy Picture of Me,” which critiques the impossible beauty standards and sexualization of women ingrained in society. Everyone chanted “I did the butcher, I did the baker / I did the home and the family maker / I did school girl fantasies,” and despite a playful energy, her words held strong.
Each member of “The Very Sexy CMAT Band” was introduced with solos atop a lighthearted Irish jig. Colm Conlon was on keys, Holly Carpenter played the violin, Daniel Vildósola and Jack Wolter strummed guitar, William Bishop was on bass, and recent edition Morgan Karabel took the drums. Moving into the album’s closing track, “Running/Planning” was performed with a powerhouse belt as air blew through her hair emphasizing the urge to always be in motion and exhaustion in living up to others’ expectations. The chorus repeated and all her pain was released.
For the encore, the band returned with an array of fluffy pink cowboy hats to be passed out to the audience as they began CMAT’s hit and title track, “EURO-COUNTRY.” Beams of light shot out from the stage and illuminated the crowd (and sea of pink hats) as fans danced with each other. For the twangy “I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!,” we were instructed to two-step throughout the song’s duration, and to my surprise, we kept the rhythm from start to finish. Before letting the night close, CMAT had us rehearse a collective chant to “Stay for Something” which employed impressively high vocals and just as much energy as all the preceding tracks.
While The Bellwether’s exterior is fairly peaceful for an LA intersection, CMAT fans filled the venue with life, community, and adoration.
Listen to EURO-COUNTRY:
