Qulture Magazine

Words and Photos: Kim Sabatelli

Walking into the TV Studio at SWG3, the blue-lit smoke-filled room set the tone for the evening; dark, heady, and the sense that anything could happen. The predominantly younger crowd were dressed in black, ready for a night of carnage. Suffice to say, Machine Girl, with support from Kavari, delivered.

Glasgow-based artist and DJ Kavari hit the SWG3 stage and from the first beat, it was a wall of sound, overwhelming in the most glorious way. it was dense, it was relentless, and the crowd was bouncing instantly. Every shift in pace, every sudden beat switch or moment of tension was met with screams and bodies surging en masse.  Strobe lights cut through the haze of smoke, while electric blue and purple lights gave industrial vibes.

Amid the chaos, something familiar yet unexpected caught my eye; Shaun the Sheep (a backpack, I should clarify) was bouncing along enthusiastically at the barrier. Glasgow had turned him feral and I was *there* for it!

Sufficiently warmed up, it didn’t take long for the crowd to summon the main act with chants of, “Here we, here we, here we f*cking go!”. It worked. Machine Girl, didn’t so much, walk onto the SWG3 stage on 29 January, as detonated it. The crowd lost its collective mind and I question if they ever found it again.

From the first distorted note, bodies bounced in unison, screams cut through the pulverising electronics, and the floor turned into a living, heaving organism that refused to stay still for even a second. Crowd surfing started early and didn’t stop; the security team was kept busy hauling people over the barrier and handing out water to keep the masses hydrated.  SWG3 became a pressure cooker: hot, damp, and euphoric-ally uncomfortable. Everyone was a sweaty mess. No one cared.

Lead vocalist and bassist Matt Stephenson treated the barrier as a suggestion rather than a boundary, repeatedly diving into the crowd; disappearing and re-emerging amid screams from those thrilled to have come within touching distance. At one point they climbed a pillar mid-set before later crowd surfing themself, fully committing to the anarchy they helped create alongside drummer Sean Kelly and guitarist Lucy Caputi.

Near the end of the set, Stephenson promised they’d come back to Glasgow. Lets hope the band keeps that promise, or Shaun the Sheep might have something to say about it…