Madilyn Mei Brings Their One Man Circus To Chicago
by Caitlin Dennis | October 17th, 2025
All images are from Madilyn Mei’s - The One Man Circus Tour Chicago, IL on 10/17/25.
Madilyn Mei, also known as Elio, is an indie-folk musician from Arizona. Their music is very fantasy inspired, and they rose to popularity on the internet for their music in the early 2020’s. They just released their latest album A Thousand Songs About It All: Act 1 back in September.
Fans piled into Outset in Chicago dressed as forest creatures and clowns to remain on theme with the music and aesthetic of this latest album. The energy was high and the venue filled up quickly! The audience was fairly young, and it was super nice to see a new generation of fans starting to fall in love with live music.
Up to the stage to warm up the crowd was Amelia Day, a folk musician from Seattle. She had released her latest single ‘Margie’ that day, and graciously played it for the crowd. Ameila has fresh, rich vocals with a wild range, just a beautiful voice. The set had a folk soul sound that was absolutely stunning with just a guitar to accompany her on stage. Her headline tour across the west coast is coming up this winter and I definitely recommend checking it out if she is coming to a city near you!
Before everyone knew it, Elio took their place atop a circus platform under two large prop magic hands and twinkle lights. I may be impartial but I do love a good big prop on the stage, especially when the aesthetic of the music/album has a strong theme, it is such a fun way to bring the story to life. The vocals were smooth and effortless the whole set. The music comprised lyrics that resonated universally with the younger generation, learning the ebs and flows of coming of age; the burnout, the love, the longing, and the growing that comes with growing up. For a lack of a better way of describing their unique music style, it seemed to be blending folk, indie pop, and fantasy musical elements. At one point during the set an accordion made its way into the instrument rotation! The show was fun and playful, with Elio dressed in a clown outfit with beautiful details and fun clown makeup, and at one point even a small hand puppet show to accompany the story line of a song. Elio is definitely one to keep an eye on in the indie-folk space!
