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CMAT shouts ‘Free Palestine' and wades into Glastonbury crowd during lively set

CMAT shouts ‘Free Palestine' and wades into Glastonbury crowd during lively set

The musician, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, 29, played songs from her back catalogue as well as new singles, including Take A Sexy Picture Of Me, from her forthcoming third studio album Euro-Country.
Plenty of festivalgoers could be seen doing the viral dance to the song, which has taken social media by storm in recent months.
Kicking off her set with Have Fun! the singer, who wore an all-purple ensemble with white boots, sang while lying flat on the floor before getting to her feet and shouting: 'Glasto!'
The musician, who blends pop and rock with folk and country influences, performed from her back catalogue, receiving rapturous applause while singing hits including I Don't Really Care For You.
The singer also encouraged fans to dance along to the 'Dunboyne County Meath two-step' while singing I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!
'I think we might be about to break a personal record for the very sexy CMAT band,' she told crowds.
'We've never attempted it (the dance) with this many people so I'm a little scared,' the singer added.
Introducing herself, she told crowds: 'My name is CMAT and I'm literally just a young one from Dunboyne/Dublin, depending who you ask.'
'This is the scariest moment of my life but it will probably singlehandedly be the best and most amazing thing I'll ever do,' she added.
Towards the end of her set, she waded into the crowd to sing her popular song Stay For Something and chanted 'Free Palestine' in reference to the ongoing war in Gaza.
CMAT released her debut album, If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, in 2022, and followed it up with Mercury Prize-nominated Crazymad, For Me in 2023.
Her third studio album is set for release on August 29.

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Why Jews aren't enjoying Glastonbury
Why Jews aren't enjoying Glastonbury

Spectator

time43 minutes ago

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Why Jews aren't enjoying Glastonbury

I've never been to Glastonbury. As more of a heavy metal girl, it's not really my music scene and, frankly, I don't believe in camping. Did it once. Not happening again. That said, I do quite enjoy watching the festival from the comfort of my own home. There are always some bands I already like performing and you can discover some exciting news artists too. Frankly, it's hard to avoid. The coverage tends to dominate almost every aspect of the BBC and it is well underway for this year. Almost every Jewish music lover I know has been dreading this weekend for weeks Unfortunately, but entirely predictably, Glastonbury is set to be an anti-Jewish, anti-Israel hatefest, with Palestinian flags and bile-filled rants galore. Even before the first artists took to the Pyramid Stage, I received a video from a friend that showed people at Worthy Farm dancing around and singing 'free Palestine'. I've also seen some merchandise featuring a bulldozer, body bags and an Israeli flag. There is even a Palestine museum on site. That this is all being done at a music festival, after Hamas massacred so many at the Nova Festival on 7 October, is an utterly grotesque irony. One that is clearly lost on those partaking in such behaviour and feeling pleased with themselves for doing so at 'Glasto'. It made me want to keep the TV off and not watch any of the coverage, but I refuse to let the bullies win. So, with some trepidation, I headed to iPlayer and turned on the dedicated Glastonbury streaming channel. My fears were confirmed within seconds. The first thing I saw was a giant Palestinian flag – almost every subsequent shot featured at least one as well, as the flag wavers placed themselves strategically to get on air. Playing on stage was CMAT, a singer who has already pulled out of playing Latitude Festival because it is sponsored by Barclays and the bank has allegedly increased its investment in arms firms that trade with Israel. Elsewhere, U2 singer Bono's son has performed and a friend on site told me that he dedicated a song to the 'people of Palestine'. It will surely not be the last we see over the weekend. People are, of course, entitled to their views, however misguided they may be. What is not OK is creating an environment so hostile that almost every Jewish music lover I know has been dreading this weekend for weeks, knowing what was about to be broadcast across our screens by the BBC. Missing out on a major cultural event or watching a sea of hate is not a great or fair choice for Jews to have to face. Why should we have to sit around waiting for some smug performer to say something ill-informed or even anti-Semitic? How has it got to the point where you need to Google and check every artist's view on a foreign war before deciding whether or not to take in their set? Sorry to break it to you Rod Stewart, but Benjamin Netanyahu isn't going to change his approach to Gaza because you claim that 'what Netanyahu is doing to the Palestinians is exactly what happened to the Jews'. Just play 'Maggie May' instead. And then there is Kneecap. The now infamous Northern Irish rap trio's performances have caused such concern that counter-terror police reviewed footage of them. One band member found himself in court on a terror charge. He will return in August after being granted unconditional bail. Thankfully, the BBC has decided not to show their set on the West Holts Stage, which is likely to take place in front of one of the biggest crowds of the whole week. It is exhausting for Jews to have to constantly approach events like Glastonbury with such a sense of foreboding, but it's the circumstances we have found ourselves in for 20 months now. Saying 'well don't watch it then' is not an acceptable answer. No minority should be forced out of enjoying the arts, whether that is in person or on television, because they fear intimidation or abuse. And make no mistake, waving giant Palestinian flags on national TV is intimidating. It's meant to be. It would be nice if, just for once, performers and audience members alike could put down their flags and Keffiyehs and just worry about the music. Instead, I'll be watching Glastonbury slightly on edge, and remembering all those that went to the Nova festival and never came back.

Glastonbury 2025: CMAT says she still gets abuse after viral song
Glastonbury 2025: CMAT says she still gets abuse after viral song

BBC News

time13 hours ago

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Glastonbury 2025: CMAT says she still gets abuse after viral song

Irish singer CMAT says she is still facing abuse after writing a single in response to being fat-shamed over her appearance at a festival last to BBC News at Glastonbury, she said the online comments are so bad that she does not have TikTok on her singer - real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson - spoke following her Friday afternoon set on the Pyramid stage, which lit up the festival with her powerful vocals and stage presence.A huge crowd of fans also joined the dance to the single Take A Sexy Picture Of Me, which pushed back on last year's fat-shaming incident and went viral on TikTok. Before performing the song, CMAT reflected on the abuse she says she received last year.'Lots of people would come and film us on their phone. The comments section was filled with very nasty comments about my physical appearance,' she crowd booed at this, while I heard several people shouting out 'you're stunning' back to wrote new song after being fat-shamed over festival showCMAT attacks 'fat shaming' comments on BBC video Following her set, I met her backstage where I asked her whether online abuse is still something she's facing.'Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'm not allowed to really have TikTok on my phone or anything,' she said.'Every day, people will leave terrible terrible comments under my TikToks and posts and stuff.'But they have their full face and full name attached to it. They're just saying terrible things knowing that they're backing it up with their online footprints.'She admitted that to some extent, 'we've all actually done it' because of how 'desensitised' people have become to posting online.'I think a lot of people do it unaware that people are actually reading this stuff,' she said. Take A Sexy Picture Of Me, the second single from upcoming album Euro Country, charts the challenges of being a woman in the public track begins with CMAT singing about trying to wax her legs with sticky tape when she was nine, and how the pressure to be attractive has meant she's "been having a horrible time of late".But the lyrics are contrasted with poppy hooks and the tongue-in-cheek solution of having someone "take a sexy picture".CMAT indicated that she had mixed feelings about the response to the song.'It's just sad that so many people are like, yeah relatable, totally get you, really relate to this song about ageing out of commercial attraction and people being mean to me about my physical appearance,' she said.'It's a double-edged sword, like I don't know if it's good that so many people relate to it but I'm glad that it's there.'She also said she likes the dance routine that was made up to go with it.'I think it's doubling down on the ridiculousness of the situation, and I like that if you are someone who has related to the song in some way, you are able to physically manifest how you relate to it.' CMAT's performance on the Pyramid Stage made fans laugh, dance and cry as she went through a string of her a few hours after, she said she was still 'in shock' at the reaction to her set.'It's taken my entire life [to get to Pyramid Stage],' she said. 'It's constantly grafting.''I also begged Emily Eavis,' she said, naming the festival's ended her set with an incredible moment - she parted the crowd and met fans as everyone belted out the lyrics I just can't do it from the song Stay for only Friday, but I'm already convinced this is one of the moments we'll remember from Glastonbury work so hard to get to the Pyramid Stage but there's also something to be said for how that stage itself can make some artists' careers. It felt like we just saw that happening with CMAT.

CMAT shouts ‘Free Palestine' and wades into Glastonbury crowd during lively set
CMAT shouts ‘Free Palestine' and wades into Glastonbury crowd during lively set

Leader Live

time14 hours ago

  • Leader Live

CMAT shouts ‘Free Palestine' and wades into Glastonbury crowd during lively set

The musician, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, 29, played songs from her back catalogue as well as new singles, including Take A Sexy Picture Of Me, from her forthcoming third studio album Euro-Country. Plenty of festivalgoers could be seen doing the viral dance to the song, which has taken social media by storm in recent months. Kicking off her set with Have Fun! the singer, who wore an all-purple ensemble with white boots, sang while lying flat on the floor before getting to her feet and shouting: 'Glasto!' The musician, who blends pop and rock with folk and country influences, performed from her back catalogue, receiving rapturous applause while singing hits including I Don't Really Care For You. The singer also encouraged fans to dance along to the 'Dunboyne County Meath two-step' while singing I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby! 'I think we might be about to break a personal record for the very sexy CMAT band,' she told crowds. 'We've never attempted it (the dance) with this many people so I'm a little scared,' the singer added. Introducing herself, she told crowds: 'My name is CMAT and I'm literally just a young one from Dunboyne/Dublin, depending who you ask.' 'This is the scariest moment of my life but it will probably singlehandedly be the best and most amazing thing I'll ever do,' she added. Towards the end of her set, she waded into the crowd to sing her popular song Stay For Something and chanted 'Free Palestine' in reference to the ongoing war in Gaza. CMAT released her debut album, If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, in 2022, and followed it up with Mercury Prize-nominated Crazymad, For Me in 2023. Her third studio album is set for release on August 29.

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