Live Report: CMAT steals the show on Main Stage at Electric Picnic

There was only one way that CMAT and her Very Sexy CMAT Band were going to open her Main Stage headline slot on Saturday night at Electric Picnic.

As they played the opening bars of Jamie Oliver Petrol Station, CMAT struck a characteristically dramatic and stricken pose, calling for them to stop!

"We can't play The Very Sexy CMAT Band Show," she cried, but then paused for for effect and a smile: "Not yet!" before they launched into a cover of Jolene, another loving tribute to the late, great, Dolly Parton from across the weekend.

It was after this that we could properly start the show, jumping back into Jamie Oliver and flowing into I Don't Really Care for You.

If her voice sounds a little tired due to the bout of gastroenteritis that forced her to cancel her Friday night appearence at Rock en Seine in Paris (coupled with a thunderstorm cancelled flight), the Meath-born sensation was well recovered enough to maintain trademark the physicality of her shows as she danced and high kicked her way through the set.

It was a surprisingly short set list for the hour and 15 minute time slot — just nine songs — but she tells us she has scheduled time for chatting because there's nothing worse apparently then a band that just stands on stage not talking.

She picks someone in the audience to "pretend they're my ex-lover" for the bridge of I Don't Really Care for You, calls out signs that she likes —"Youse with the Blanch Rat sign!" — and even cuts into her yapping time to add Coronation Street to the set because "if you're holding up song requests on your phones I'm not reading that, but if somebody's made a little sign and they're standing in the front row, and they're like four layers of CMAT merch, I'm gonna f**king do it!"

CMAT on the Electric Picnic Main Stage, Saturday August 29. Copyright Liam Murphy

And do it she does, noting as well that Saturday, August 29, is the one year anniversary of the release of the Eurocountry album.

We get a few more of the hits from that record including When A Good Man Cries, Take a Sexy Picture (with a repeat round of the Woke Macarena thrown in for a laugh), and an emotional lead in to the title single about its meaning and CMAT's hopes for the future of Ireland, and she gets visibly emotional as we sing the first chorus to her.

There's no doubt about it, from the size and the love of the crowd, that CMAT is one of Irelands biggest and best stars right now.

She clearly feels it too, as we start a few rounds of olé olé olé when she tells us she "can't believe this crowd".

"I'm genuinely speechless but I need to be an entertainer and pretend this is all normal!"

She leads us one quick round of Free Free Palestine before she dedicates her Dunboyne Two Step during I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby to the people of Palestine.

After "taking a minute to soak it in" CMAT and The Very Sexy CMAT Band finish us off with Stay for Something, and she takes a dive into the crowd, coming out like a prizefighter wearing a beaded cape and a pair of shades she was not wearing when she went in.

It's a glorious peak for her career, especially given her recent announcement that she will be taking 2027 off touring.

If this is what we can expect from a CMAT at the end of a long rinse and repeat of touring and recording, we can only speculate at the gems a fully rested CMAT will have to offer.

You can find all of the Hot Press coverage from the entire Electric Picnic 2026 weekend right here.