SEXY, STYLISH AND SCUNTY: CMAT BRINGS THE HEAT TO GLASGOW’S BARROWLAND BALLROOM

LIVE REVIEW | CMAT w/ Katie J Pearson | Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow | 2nd March 2026 by Anne Kelly

“I’m a writer…” The unmistakable voice of CMAT fills the Barrowland Ballroom, met instantly by a roar of noise that quickly shifts to confusion. The energy pivots from the main stage – where the “Very Sexy CMAT Band” have taken their positions – to the back of the room. There, bathed in a spotlight and perched high above the crowd, is the actual very sexy CMAT, delivering a dramatic, melancholic rendition of ‘Janis Joplining’. Every head in the room turns, fixated on the much-anticipated – and delayed – arrival of Ireland’s greatest export.

2025 was undoubtedly the Year of CMAT. Her third studio album, EURO-COUNTRY, propelled her from the somebody your muso pals raved about, to a household name, aided in no small part by a viral TikTok dance and her signature blend of charming wit and quirky theatrics. But her raw honesty was the hook. For a generation of outsiders, CMAT is more than your run of the mill popstar – she’s the captain of a gloriously offbeat, queer ship that celebrates authenticity above anything else.

Initially scheduled for October 2025, the tour was postponed due to a dental emergency. Now, with three back-to-back sold-out nights at the infamous Barrowland Ballroom followed by two nights at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange, it’s clear CMAT could have easily graduated to arenas. But the impact wouldn’t have been the same. The Barrowlands transcends the usual live show experience; despite housing nearly 2,000 bodies, it carries the intimacy of a room a quarter of its size. In a venue like the Hydro, you lose that personal touch that makes the show so unique.

Warming up the room was Katie J Pearson, who CMAT gushes over later saying “All I listen to is Katie J Pearson. But she can’t sue us for plagiarism now, because I brought her tour”. No frills but still compelling, Katie’s set doesn’t need bells and whistles to prove her talent. One woman, one guitar and a whole lot of feels; the Bristol singer is generous with her time, performing tracks from across her repertoire before seeing the night out with ‘Alligator’.

Back to the main event and on the main stage, the EURO-COUNTRY era landed in full force. CMAT and her six-piece band launched into ‘Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’, sparking an early mass singalong. Prowling the stage in a white linen skirt and blouse cinched with a red checkered cropped vest and personalised CMAT printed red tights, she dubbed the look “Scunt” – a “Scottish Cunt” in the most endearing sense possible.

Giving hit after hit, a CMAT set list has no time for filler. Touching base with all 3 of her critically acclaimed albums – If My Wife New I’s Be Dead (2022), Crazymad For Me (2023) and last year’s chart topping Euro-Country – there’s a little bit of CMAT for every mood. She even has a couple of honorary Scots covers. A short rendition of Dougie Maclean‘s ‘Caledonia’, and impromptu ‘Inner Smile’ by Texas – introduced as Scotland National Anthem – CMAT reveals is a track they always jam at soundcheck, but this is the first time it’s ever been played in front of an audience.

The highlights came thick and fast. ‘Have Fun’ radiated sexy, flirty vibes, while the viral hit ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’ served as a powerful anthem of defiance, sexuality and needless to say: “the butcher, the baker, home and the family maker”. Between songs, she reflected on her recent BRIT Awards appearance, just 2 days earlier, joking that losing Best International Artist to Rosalía stung less knowing that Lady Gaga lost to her too.

In a moment of vulnerability, CMAT confessed: “The first time I played in Scotland, it was one of my least favourite shows ever.” Supporting an unnamed band years ago at the same venue, she recalled an “awful” crowd. It may have taken a few years, but the redemption arc is complete. Scotland adores this woman.

Closing out with ‘Running/Planning’, the band briefly departed before returning for a commanding encore of ‘Euro-Country’. Wrapped in a Palestine flag, the song’s sentiment as a love letter to one’s country hit with extra gravity. But CMAT wasn’t going to let the night end without a party. The synchronised side-stepping in ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy’ moved like a wave across the famous bouncy floorboards. Bringing the clock right up to the 11 PM curfew, the final moment belonged to ‘Stay For Something’. Every beat and high note roared with fire, earning a standing ovation from a crowd that was already on its feet.

CMAT came, she saw, and she ‘Scunted.’ As the final notes of ‘Stay For Something’ bounced off the Barrowland’s iconic neon stars, it was clear CMAT had pulled off the impossible. She’d managed to turn a sold-out room of two thousand sweaty, shouting bodies into something that felt like a private, tear-stained, glitter-covered heart-to-heart. In the words of CMAT herself: for those heading to the remaining Scottish dates this week:

HAVE FUN!

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