CMAT lives up to her pop star dreams at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London for a night littered with moments of unbridled glee

Words: Ali Shutler.Photos: Frances Beach.

"My favourite musicians have always swung big," CMAT told Dork earlier this year. After her 2022 debut album 'If My Wife New I'd Be Dead' made her a hometown hero, her second album 'Crazymad, for Me' dialled up the extravagance via a sprawling 12 tracks. Channelling iconic pop stars and intricate cult musicians, the jagged record explored a terrible seven-year relationship with wit, humour, vulnerability and resolve. Tonight, at a very sold-out and suitably sparkly Shepherd's Bush Empire, CMAT continues to take those big swings.

"Where I come from, a live rock'n'roll performance is a very different thing. It's a little bit wild, it's usually quite gay," she explains before 'I… Hate Who I Am When I'm Horny' as her name is displayed in lights behind her. A string of festival appearances this summer saw CMAT lean into the giddy chaos of her music, but tonight's a more deliberate affair. There's an extended outro and dance sequence for 'I Don't Really Care For You', a song CMAT readily describes as the "greatest of all time", followed later by a costume change for 'Phone Me'.

Early airings of 'California', 'Whatever's Inconvenient' and 'Vincent Kompany' show off her range, with the new tracks pulling from the fringes of country, folk, pop and indie but twisting it into something far more instant while beloved classics like 'Nashville' and '2 Wrecked 2 Care' make perfect sense in these lush surroundings.

With a ribboned red curtain behind her and a four-piece band, there's more than a hint of theatre to this CMAT show, especially when the centre of the stage is filled by a five-tier podium with a mirror on top. It's lavish Las Vegas opulence, but CMAT bends it into something more intimate, performing in front of it like a kid in their bedroom with a hairbrush microphone. She admits that tonight should be terrifying, but CMAT couldn't look more comfortable embracing the front rows while singing 'Can't Make Up My Mind'. "I love how much you understand me," she beams, making small moments feel huge and cutting daunting subjects down to size.

Before CMAT can kickstart the encore with a pained 'Rent', a fan throws a Palestine flag onstage. Without thinking twice, she proudly holds it up before putting it centre stage. "There's been a lot of political punk bands recently that have refused to do something as simple as that," she explains, once the applause has finally died down. "If you've known me for longer than the pop star stuff, you'll know this is something I'm all about. I don't think calling for a ceasefire should be controversial." Later, she explains that 'I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby' is about "not having freedom, and desperately wanting it," before a bristling 'Stay For Something' tries to find joy in the confusion and heartache.

CMAT has never shied away from silliness, and while tonight is littered with moments of unbridled glee, the entire 100-minute gig is a carefully curated show full of ambition. With one eye on the future and another on the cowboy-hat-wearing fanbase in front of her, tonight sees CMAT live up to every one of her pop star dreams while also creating a safe, vulnerable space - and finding time for her to pretend to be an aeroplane.