Review – CMAT – The Bristol Gig Guide

The Thekla, Nov 27th 2022

Opening the night’s proceedings was Aislinn Logan, playing a stripped-back set with just her powerful vocals, electric guitar, guitar pedal and the occasional backing track. Despite the minimalist approach she manages to capture the attention of the already quite full Thekla crowd who fall silent to listen .

For the main event CMAT returns to a sold-out show in Bristol just a mere 7 months after her sold-out show in April at The Louisiana. We reviewed that show previously and as there hasn’t been any new material officially released since, the setlist is largely the same bar a few songs swapped in the running and new track “Mayday” replacing “Communion”. “Mayday” fits nicely into the setlist, it seems like a natural evolution from CMAT’s debut album with a more expanded pop sound but retaining elements from the debut album “If My Wife New I’d Be Dead”.

This time around we are presented with a larger band and even a saxophone, unfortunately one for one of the solos it appeared that it wasn’t plugged in but by the next one, it was received with rapturous applause.

Tonight’s gig is sold out but rather than having stragglers by the bar and towards the back of the room, pretty much everyone is bunched into the first half of the Thekla, desperate to get as close as possible to CMAT. This is a testament to her effortless stage presence, where she has the crowd in the palm of her hands – singing every single world and laughing at every anecdote. The larger stage and venue benefits CMAT, her powerful vocals are louder in the mix and this is especially apparent during new song “Rent” in the encore.

One poignant anecdote from the evening is when CMAT talks about the time she played at Thekla in 2017 with her former band, Dead Sea, who “weren’t particularly good” at the time. They were given a 14:30 slot on the top deck of Thekla which is “About the worst slot you can imagine”. Expecting no one to turn up, the band were surprised they had quite a large turnout. Afterwards they found out this was due to Bristol’s legendary Big Jeff who she calls the “most important person in the music industry” – I agree and can’t wait to see Big Jeff back down at the front.

Upon leaving, I overheard one patron saying “she’s an icon!”, it’s clear to see why tonight – the self-proclaimed popstar knows how to put everything into a performance and put on a show that’s destined for bigger stages. As with before, CMAT is one to watch and just like this time, I anticipate it will be on an even bigger stage with just as an entertaining performance.

Images & Review by Craig J Simmonds Media