CMAT paid tribute to Dolly Parton as she took to the Main Stage at Electric Picnic on Saturday night, opening her set with a surprise rendition of Jolene.
The Dunboyne singer arrived on stage bang on time at 9pm, wearing a vintage-style blue dress, before abruptly stopping the music.
“Stop, stop. I can’t do this,” she told the crowd. “I can’t do the sexy CMAT show. Something has changed.”
After a dramatic pause, she asked: “Can you tell what it is?”
She then launched into Jolene, in tribute to the country music legend who died earlier this week at the age of 80.
The rain, which had caused plenty of problems for festival-goers throughout the day, had also stopped by the time CMAT took to the stage.
Her appearance had been in some doubt just 24 hours earlier after she was forced to cancel a performance at Rock en Seine in Paris due to gastroenteritis.
CMAT confirmed on Saturday that she had recovered enough to play Electric Picnic and, once the show got under way, there was no sign of the previous day’s difficulties.
She delivered a full-energy performance from start to finish.
The set included EURO-COUNTRY, When a Good Man Cries, The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station, I Don’t Really Care For You, Take a Sexy Picture of Me, Aw, Shoot!, I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby! and Stay For Something.
Later, CMAT reflected on her own history with Electric Picnic, telling the audience it was the first festival she had ever attended.
“I genuinely can’t believe this crowd,” she said.
“I’m genuinely speechless.”
The feeling was clearly mutual, with phones held aloft across the crowd as festival-goers danced and cheered throughout the set.
It has been quite a journey at the festival for CMAT, who played the Rankin’s Wood tent in 2022 before moving to the Electric Arena in 2024.
On Saturday night, she stepped onto the Main Stage for a 60-minute set ahead of Gorillaz, keeping closely to her allotted time.
At one point, pint of Guinness in hand, she asked the crowd: “How do we feel?”
“It’s my EP show,” she declared.
She also spotted a group waving from the front of the crowd and asked: “Are you all from St Peter’s?”, before welcoming those from Dunboyne.
Some of the loudest cheers came when she spoke about what it meant to be playing at home.
“This is certainly the most special audience I’ve ever played in my whole life,” she said.
“For many reasons, but it’s wonderful to know that my home country understands me best.
“This is my favourite country in the whole world and I know this from having been out of it.”
Saturday also marked exactly one year since the release of her third album, EURO-COUNTRY.
Introducing the title track, CMAT told the crowd: “Today is the first one-year anniversary of the release of EURO-COUNTRY.”
Later, with her guitar back in hand, she urged the audience to sway together.
“Look after each other,” she shouted, before playing I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!.
As the show neared its end, CMAT stopped to take in the crowd.
“This is probably as good as it’s ever going to get for me, so give me a minute to soak it all in,” she said.
“You’ve been f***ing amazing.”
She then asked festival-goers to tell her just how mucky the ground was.
“I guess I’ll find out,” she joked.
As her band played on, CMAT climbed over the barrier and disappeared into the crowd.
For a time, all that could be seen were the lights from phones as the audience cheered.
She eventually made her way back, climbed over the barrier and rejoined her band on stage.
“I love you,” she told the crowd.
“I owe you my life.”
And with another huge cheer from the audience, she was gone.