By Chandler Paulk
From the balcony, in the middle of a stream of adoring fans, emerged a declaration: “I’m a writer, I don’t do crushes.” The line opens “Janis Joplining,” sung by BRIT-nominated Irish popstar CMAT, and opened CMAT’s first-ever show at DC’s 9:30 Club. Fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing there, CMAT noted her excitement about night in general and the iconic branded cupcakes. However, this excitement over the delights of foodstuffs only lasted until the “Very Sexy CMAT Band” started up the second song, a diss-track-turned-self-admonishment and second single from the new album Euro-Country (2025). “The Jaime Oliver Petrol Station” set the tone as red lights flashed across the stage setting, a large glowing Euro embossed with the popstar’s face and the title of the album. The song devolved into a fit of screaming, cementing CMAT’s bonafide rock-stardom as she ran around the stage, raising the energy in the room to a boiling point. After this, she played two hits from her first album, “I Don’t Really Care for You” and “2 Wrecked 2 Care”, interspersed with a song from the new record, “When a Good Man Cries,” in which the artist catapulted herself onto the floor.
Soon, CMAT called out to the crowd acknowledging two requests. She provided the background for her first song, “Phone Me.” She admitted she had forgotten the words and that most of the band had not played before, but sang and performed a snippet of it perfectly as the band played off of the keyboardist’s direction. Following this, she played the second request, “Coronation St.”
The band then exited the stage and the lights dimmed, leaving CMAT at center stage with just her guitar. This portion was bookended by the return of the band for the second half of “Rent,” a devastating ballad from her second album Crazymad, For Me (2023), which bloomed from the solitary beginning to full band backing. To close out the set, the first single from Euro-Country, “Running/Planning,” left the crowd on an an anticipatory note as the singer closed the song with the refrain “I keep on running, planning, yeah.”
Though this wasn’t the true end, CMAT returned to the stage for an encore to chants of her name. The encore began with the title track from Euro-Country, featuring a beautiful verse in Gaeilge and rooting the entire show even further within the ethos of identity. This Irish thread was masterfully woven together with her country influences as she asked the audience to do the “Dunboyne County Meath two-step” shuffle from side to side while she played the song “I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!” After this, CMAT came down from the stage and into the pit to close the show, for real this time, with “Stay For Something.”
From the very beginning of the night with opener Blond in Car to the very end of the show, drama and energy reigned over the Euro-Country tour. A night with CMAT and The Very Sexy CMAT Band is certainly one you won’t want to miss. She doesn’t do crushes, but she crushed her first show at the iconic 9:30 Club!
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