On Saturday night we witnessed what will likely be one of the top five most memorable shows of the year. CMAT, which stands for Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, brought a whirlwind of infectious happiness, musical mayhem, and a whoooole lot of Wizard of Oz love to the stage when she stopped by The Granada on Saturday.
The Irish musician and lovable goofus, backed by an equally lovable band, really pulled out the stops for this one. The show began in a way that we’ve never seen at the Granada before: from the top of a curtained balcony in the back of the venue, lit only by a very bright spotlight. This is where she belted out “Janis Joplining.” The moment the song was over, she sprinted to the stage and dove right into high kicks in her very bright cowgirl boots for her latest highly addictive release, “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station.”
CMAT is a never-ending fountain of youth and sass. She spent the entire show bolting from one end of the stage to the other. Because she’s also a bisexual icon, her fans were mostly comprised of members of the queer community, and let me tell you they all looked like a million dollars. Half the fun of a CMAT show is the unapologetic happiness from her queer fans (which is greatly needed in the U.S., currently). In fact, I’d venture to guess that everyone in the crowd was either gay, Irish, or Palestinian (there were enough of us Palestinians in attendance this night to make a whole kickball team!). CMAT is a very vocal and staunch Palestinian supporter, and at least two people in attendance this night held both Palestinian and Irish heritage.
On this night, we learned that apparently CMAT is a rather intense fan of “The Wizard of Oz.” She spent quite a bit of time quoting lines from the movie, but mostly just singing the munchkin parts. “Hi, I’m CMAT and when I was a little girl, I developed quite an unhealthy relationship with ‘The Wizard of Oz,'” she confided before enthusiastically announcing that this was her first time in Kansas, saying she spent the day “going around town like a dog let off a leash.”
CMAT was heavy on the crowd rapport. Notice how we said rapport, not interaction. Every bit of pleasantry that came out of her was reciprocated back from the crowd. In fact, there was a very tender moment with a fan who requested the song “No More Virgos” for their mother, who they say kept dating virgos. CMAT was happy to go off the setlist and oblige. She successfully blended Irish music and country music together, and Kansas was the perfect setting for this. There were bits of choreography here and there that were very positively received by the crowd, and we couldn’t help but notice that no one really left the show early. How could you? It’s impossible to take your eyes off of a stage show that’s so well done.
Kansas City’s Kat King and her band opened the show and delighted with a mix of new and older releases, but their Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover of “Heads Will Roll” really won the crowd over, as it was almost indistinguishable from the real deal.