More about: Mad Cool Festival

In the city of Madrid, there is a very cool festival (figuratively anyway) – you could even describe is as ‘Mad Cool’ because that’s its name and this year’s edition was easily one of the best festivals of the summer even with a temperature in the high thirties. Over 5 days in the sunny Spanish capital, some of the best acts in the world assembled for singing, dancing, and the occasional bit of partying.

Kicking off on Wednesday, it’s Wolf Alice early doors on the ‘Madrid Is Life’ stage playing near enough the same set they did at Glastonbury a few weeks ago but they were a delight nonetheless kicking things off with a ripping performance of ‘Smile’ from last year’s ‘Blue Weekend’. Later on, over on the Vibra Mahou stage, we’re not sure anyone’s feeling the heat more than Creeper frontman Will Gould in an all-black outfit including a rather fetching leather jacket – phwoar. Nonetheless, the Southampton emos absolutely smash their 45-minute set with ‘Napalm Girls’ and ‘Midnight’ the highlights with the latter seeing keyboardist Hannah Greenwood seize the limelight.

Over on the Region of Madrid stage, at 8:40pm sharp, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes provide a frenzy with Frank getting up to his usual antics whipping up pits, crowd surfing, and other mayhem. Straight after, the assembled gays of Mad Cool (and seemingly the entire Spanish glitter supply) wait patiently for the queen herself – Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s an interesting juxtaposition waiting for Carly while the sound of Metallica playing ‘Enter Sandman’ floats across from the main stage, but Carly does not disappoint when she emerges. Every single song in her set is a stone-cold classic from the immortal ‘Run Away With Me’, to the iconic ‘Call Me Maybe’, to the recent single ‘Western Wind’ whipping up singalongs galore. After Ms Jepsen finishes her set, Scottish trio CHVRCHES arrive to close this evening’s proceedings on the Region of Madrid stage delivering a slick set of synth pop bangers including an electrifying version of ‘Clearest Blue’.

Rolling into Thursday, Modest Mouse deliver a vibe filled set on the Region of Madrid stage including their classic ‘Float On’ followed by Deftones over on the main stage ripping Mad Cool a new one. Back over to the Region of Madrid stage and Sigrid appears for an hour with more easy singalongs than one can shake a stick at. Speaking of singalongs, it is no surprise that The Killers’ set on the main stage goes down an absolute treat opening with a double whammy of ‘The Man’ and ‘Spaceman’ and a triple threat of ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’, ‘When You Were Young’, and ‘Mr Brightside’ to finish with all the hits in between. Meanwhile, back over on the Region of Madrid stage, St Vincent is shredding her way through a set comprising mostly of cuts from her most recent albums ‘Daddy’s Home’ and ‘MASSEDUCTION’ which leaves little to be desired. Closing the festival this evening are Foals who deliver indie bangers by the truckload with ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Mountain At My Gates’, and ‘My Number’ all appearing fairly early on. Finishing with a double whammy of ‘What Went Down’ and ‘Two Steps, Twice’, Yannis and the lads happily remind the Spanish masses just why they’re so damn good.

Friday kicks off with Haim delivering the goods (and sausages apparently) on the Madrid Is Life stage; airings of ‘Now I’m In It’, ‘Want You Back’, and ‘Forever’ go down a storm but it’s Este Haim’s moment when ‘3am’ rolls round with Este taking the opportunity to run around and give a wonderful performance. Over on the Madrid Is Life stage, Phoebe Bridgers walks on to Disturbed’s ‘Down With The Sickness’ before breaking into ‘Motion Sickness’. Other bits aired include ‘Kyoto’, ‘Scott Street’, and ‘I Know The End’ but it’s an airing of early fan favourite ‘Waiting Room’ that really hits the sweet spot this evening. Headlining this evening is Muse who, let’s face it, always deliver the goods live. Their spectacular set includes pyro, masks, a giant stage prop, and what appears to be a Nintendo Power Glove along with the likes of ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, ‘Uprising’, and ‘Hysteria’ alongside a few cuts from their forthcoming album ‘Will of the People’.

For reasons that will become obvious shortly, Saturday is very much the big one. It starts off with Ukrainian artist Alina Pash delivering an incredibly passionate set on the Amazon Music stage pleading with the crowd to show their support for her country. Shortly after back over on the Region of Madrid stage, Gang of Youths share their instantly obvious Australian charm with singer David Le’aupepe declaring to the crowd “let’s make these other fuckin cunts take notice yeah?’; and they do with big heartfelt choruses coming again and again including on opener ‘the angel of 8^th ave.” which springs into life like no tomorrow.

Now for possibly one of the best festival runs of the summer, its Pixies followed by Kings of Leon, Florence & the Machine, and Royal Blood. Phwoar. Classics including ‘Here Comes Your Man’ and ‘Debaser’ get aired by Black Francis and co before Kings of Leon take to the Madrid is Life stage for a solidly good set that naturally includes the likes of ‘Molly’s Chambers’, ‘Use Somebody’, and ‘Sex on Fire’.

Make no mistake, Florence and her wonderful machine on the Mad Cool stage is easily one of the best sets of the weekend. The vibes are simply immaculate with new songs such as ‘King’ and ‘My Love’ slotting in perfectly alongside ‘Dog Days Are Over’, ‘Shake It Out’, and ‘Hunger’. The most special moment however came when Florence played a song she wrote while very hungover that she hadn’t played in 10 years – the beautiful ‘Never Let Me Go’ soaring over the site like a bird taking flight. Wrapping up Saturday evening on the Madrid is Life stage is Royal Blood smashing out their trademark rock anthems including an ever longer drum solo in ‘Little Monster’. The Brighton duo are good, but nothing can top Florence today.

Sunday at the festival was a much more relaxed vibe with a reduced capacity and a bigger focus on Spanish music. That doesn’t stop proper Geordie lad Sam Fender playing “the hottest gig I’ve ever played in me fuckin life” (he’s not wrong by the way, it’s so bloody hot that security are spraying the crowd with water) and still smashing it beyond belief especially with a version of ‘Spit of You’ that feels right at home in the late afternoon Spanish heat. Later on, at 10pm, Two Door Cinema Club take to the Loop stage in what feels like 45 degree+ heat inside the tent with a fun set opening with a double whammy of ‘I Can Talk’ and ‘Undercover Martyn’ before working their way through both their back catalogue and some new material.

Closing the entire festival is the man himself, Mr Jack White (and his “ne’er-do-wells” aka his backing band as he introduces them) playing a good mix of his solo work, White Stripes, Dead Weather, and Raconteurs songs. Highlights include a blistering performance of the White Stripes classic ‘Black Math’, a version of ‘The Hardest Button To Button’ which included a snippet of the Talking Heads classic ‘Psycho Killer’, and a version of The Dead Weather’s ‘I Cut Like a Buffalo’ which sees Jack jump between guitars and piano with apparent reckless abandon. Finishing with ‘Steady As She Goes’ into ‘Seven Nation Army’, there aren’t many artists who could rightfully close 5 days of fantastic music like Jack does.

It's clear to all in attendance over the five days that Mad Cool is without a doubt one of the best festivals on the continent with a set-up and a line-up that firmly places it as an elite event. With two main stages next to each other allowing acts to come on pretty much as the other stage finishes, a disco that is always bouncing (seriously, the Vibra Mahou Disco was ridiculously fun), and enough bars so that you’re never waiting too long for a drink; Mad Cool is seriously something that needs to be experienced.

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More about: Mad Cool Festival