MACHINE GIRL: ALBUM, TO ARG, TO A STAGE (NEAR YOU!)
Salt Shed - Chicago - April 3, 2026
Written by: Katrina Shlain |April 19, 2026
CHICAGO — Heavy and gloomy skies tower over the Salt Shed, as a line of eager fans begin to wrap the former salt factory. I attended this concert with my best friend Angie (my duo), whom I saw Machine Girl’s last concert with in Chicago back in December of 2024. The doors were a little late to open, so I spent that time interviewing other attendees on their thoughts and predictions on the concert. Many were there with their friends, excited to spend their evening moshing, and one concert goer was there to reunite with a past lover! Eventually, doors opened and people spilled into the venue, a line forming at the merch stand and people taking their spots in front of the stage. Angie and I too found a spot near the front, and we were able to talk with many other fans like ourselves feeling the buzz of anticipation
Right around 8 p.m., Casper McFadden walks out to the stage in a t-shirt and trapper hat, to jolt the audience awake, and give them a taste of what’s to come.
“He’s a Chicago Legend!” Matt Stephens of Machine Girl exclaimed.
McFadden fills the room with chaotic samples and intense fast-paced drums and breaks. You can’t pay attention to anything except the rapidness of the drums and the intense and growing need to move.
Various samples of different forms of media were used that were too niche for Angie and I to place, but watching McFadden smile to himself whenever he’d trigger them rippled down a smile on our faces too. We spent the rest of the set dancing and jumping with all 32 of our teeth showing, just like McFadden.
“He just has this natural aegyo to him!” Angie commented after McFadden’s set.
The crowd had definitely warmed up by this point, and before we knew it, it was time for the next act.
Sextile is a project that was founded by Brady Keehn and Melissa Scaduto, debuting their first album in 2015. Their style has made waves of changes over the years, from starting off with an occult inspired rock/punk album, to their most recent album ‘yes, please.’ an electro-punk record, which was featured frequently in their set.
“I don’t really like loud music that much, but Sextile just has the perfect amount of hype,” said Sophia Mayfield, who’s been a big fan of Sextile for over a year.
The duo stepped into view and it felt like an immovable force has caused my gaze to be fixated on the stage. Each member brought a different kind of aura, yet complimented each other in a unique way. They created an inexplicable kind of chemistry on stage that I personally have never seen before. My personal favorite song that they played was Women Respond To Bass, which is off their most recent album. With blaring synths, echoing vocals and bass that made the ground shake beneath me, yet again I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage. If you had any thoughts that you needed to think through, they weren’t going to happen during this set!
And before we knew it, the lights shut off and a pulsating rhythm begins to play as lights emit from the statue of the woman that is floating above the stage’s ground. Electric noise begins to play, almost as an alert. Soon after Sean Kelly takes his place over the drumset and Lucy Caputi slings their guitar over their body. Matt Stephenson takes the stage a couple seconds later and the main act begins.
Psychchowarrior: MG Ultra X serves as a part 2 of an ARG (Augmented Reality Game) created by Matt Stephenson, the founder and leader of Machine Girl. In the opening song, you can hear remnants of the synth used in Psychic Attack, the closing song of MG Ultra. It’s featured through music videos released by Machine Girl on their youtube channel, and it’s definitely worth a watch! MG Ultra and PsychoWarriors both serve you a plate of manic synths and rhythms that blow moxie into your ears. The venue felt alive, you could feel the energy pulsating through the crowd. The abrasiveness of it all, Machine Girl gives me stamina and energy so intense I feel like I could run a marathon (I definitely can’t).
“I hope he plays Status,”said Jonathan, another concert goer I had a chance to speak to. “But he probably won’t.”
Well to Johnathan’s surprise, they did, and those aren’t the only throwbacks that were featured in the set. Ionic Funk – 20xx Battle Music, Scroll Of Sorrow and many more songs off Matt’s previous works were performed and ravenously enjoyed by the crowd. Waited So Long of RePorpoised Phantasis (my personal favorite MG project) was featured as the encore and was mixed spectacularly by Lucy (the guitarist) and was definitely my highlight of the night.
But what really sealed it from great to amazing was the crowd. They were lively, interactive and overflowing with personality. Moshpits opened everywhere, one in the front, one in the middle, Stephenson was crowdsurfing, other concert goers were crowd surfing– there wasn’t a song where someone wasn’t travelling over my head and over the barricade. The crowd was its own entity, and without them, a Machine Girl concert wouldn’t be the same. It’s also worth mentioning that a lot of punk/alternative shows have a reputation for lacking deodorant and being quite smelly, but it actually didn’t stink at all! I was at the barricade throughout most of the show, but Angie traveled throughout the crowd quite a bit, and had that same sentiment!
Soon, the show was over and the lights dimmed. As the venue employees began to usher everyone out, we stepped into the cold harsh rain. Despite the water dripping on our heads as we waited for our ride back to the train station, I couldn’t help but feel the feeling of chrysalism. Yet again, I have witnessed a performance that I won’t be able to experience again, the memory I have feels vivid and I can feel my brain safely storing it in my library of memories. As I reflect on the show, I relive the insane volume and I can almost feel the crowd screaming as I write this.
Overall, my first instinct is to say that Machine Girl isn’t for everyone. But everyone I’ve shown their music to, they always find a song they like. And I believe this same notion goes to their concerts as well. It’s a punk concert, which can be incredibly intense to most, but it’s so fresh and interesting that no matter what genre of concert you frequent now,Machine Girl will always give a show that is worthwhile.