CMAT's album launch @ The Jacaranda

Hailing from Dublin, CMAT blessed Liverpools The Jac on October 17th with the album launch of her sophomore album ‘Crazymad, For Me’, due to the fact she’s a global pop star tickets were seized quickly. Luckily for her devoted fan base, the queen of country-pop performed a matinee in the afternoon as well as an evening show (which I attended).

The Jacaranda’s intimate space and the acoustic nature of the performance made for an exceptional gig – I have seen CMAT perform with her live band at The Deaf Institute and Gorilla in Manchester, but this performance was different.

The average CMAT gig is unruly, slightly disorderly, and flamboyant – what’s better than doing the two-step with strangers who are just as unhinged as you are? However, the stripped back album launch gave a new life to some songs, for example ‘Nashville’ which was so touching that it sincerely drove me to tears.

Don’t be fooled though, although this was a solo performance (with trainers/’goodies’ worn instead of cowboy boots, exposed) it certainly did not lack in energy. Banter was had, tears were shed, requests were shouted, and scouse accents were attempted.

Being Irish myself (albeit, Northern…), a CMAT gig always feels like a slice of home and maybe that’s why I’ve attended so many, that, and the fact that I am obsessive apparently? Some standouts from the gig were: ‘California’, ‘Peter Bogdanovic’, ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby!’, and 'Nashville' of course.

CMAT is touring the UK, Ireland, Europe, and the US between November and June – so if you haven’t managed to catch this tour de force yet, now is your chance.

Anyway, here is a picture of myself, my girlfriend, and global pop star CMAT (wearing trainers):