Mad Cool 2017

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

In defence of the festival I've been having a great time. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the flow of people between stages that I have witnessed. I haven't had to queue any longer than 10 mins for either a drink or the toilet (even at peak times). The toilets are well attended to. The staff all seem friendly & willing to help. My only criticism is that they could do with more food stalls dotted about. 

The accident last night in hindsight could have been handled better. But the organisers had 45,000 waiting to see Green Day; cancelling the gig could have caused further problems. 

[McCallion]

33 minutes ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

In defence of the festival I've been having a great time. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the flow of people between stages that I have witnessed. I haven't had to queue any longer than 10 mins for either a drink or the toilet (even at peak times). The toilets are well attended to. The staff all seem friendly & willing to help. My only criticism is that they could do with more food stalls dotted about. 

The accident last night in hindsight could have been handled better. But the organisers had 45,000 waiting to see Green Day; cancelling the gig could have caused further problems. 

Not entirely sure were at the same festival! Haha! Some bars not open during gigs and sharing card machines (although this did seem to improve after day 1), no food stalls in the main arena, no screens day 1, huge funneling queues to get into the arena with just a handful of people scanning wristbands, laughable security checks, awful sound bleed and miscommunications about door times. Transport after the fest is also leaves a lot to be desired. That being said the toilet queues are shorter than some fests I've been to and the bars are good value / good choice.

I understand this is just year 2 and there are bound to be teething problems but I just don't believe the security and crew are in any way equipped for an event of this size. The tragedy last night was just the cherry on the cake. I understand the concerns about cancelling the show but to not inform the headline band someone has just fallen to death meters from where their pink bunny is dancing and expecting them to take the backlash is unfair to say the least. The organisation seem to be acting as if no one has ever cancelled a gig before. If your festival is not equipped for all your guests leaving at the same time in this day and age, you should be asking serious questions. Rock Am Ring managed to evacuate the entire festival this year with no real issues.

All it would have taken would be for one guy to come out on the stage and said "What just happened wasn't part of the act, a man has been seriously injured but he has been escorted to hospital" rather than acting like nobody saw it happen. Unless there is a major improvement I don't think I'll be returning in the future when I know there are much better run festivals out there.

[foolee]

Got to say in defense of mad cool I've had a really good time over the last few days. Yes it's been crowded but what popular mainstream sold out festival isn't right? 

Quite busy but easy enough to get around and queues for toilets and bars are the usual for big festivals, same as the prices. 

One critism would be to add more food outlets around the festival rather than the one food court away from everything else. However as it doesn't start until the evening I haven't eaten in the arena, saving some money by eating in the apartment which is nice! 

Highlights were Foos, Green Day and Catfish. 

Regarding the Pedro incident, I believe it's a terrible situation and I was unaware of this until I got home after Green Day, I believe only a selection of the crowd would have seen this and I'm sure everyone was unaware of the magnitude of the incident. Green Day would not have played if they'd have known and unless you have run a huge scale event and had an horrific tragic incident happen whilst running one I'm sure it's not an easy or quick decision or quick to even find out what is happened so I think it's very unfair to slag Green Day off and I was very pleased to see the fitting tribute to Pedro before kings of Leon tonight which was very moving and they would not have done this or continued without the permission of pedros family. 

[McCallion]

5 hours ago, foolee said:

Got to say in defense of mad cool I've had a really good time over the last few days. Yes it's been crowded but what popular mainstream sold out festival isn't right? 

Quite busy but easy enough to get around and queues for toilets and bars are the usual for big festivals, same as the prices. 

One critism would be to add more food outlets around the festival rather than the one food court away from everything else. However as it doesn't start until the evening I haven't eaten in the arena, saving some money by eating in the apartment which is nice! 

Highlights were Foos, Green Day and Catfish. 

Regarding the Pedro incident, I believe it's a terrible situation and I was unaware of this until I got home after Green Day, I believe only a selection of the crowd would have seen this and I'm sure everyone was unaware of the magnitude of the incident. Green Day would not have played if they'd have known and unless you have run a huge scale event and had an horrific tragic incident happen whilst running one I'm sure it's not an easy or quick decision or quick to even find out what is happened so I think it's very unfair to slag Green Day off and I was very pleased to see the fitting tribute to Pedro before kings of Leon tonight which was very moving and they would not have done this or continued without the permission of pedros family. 

Yeah, you make some good points. Maybe it's just that I'm coming off the back of Rock Werchter which seemed infinitely better organised but it just wasn't for me. Think I'll stick to the more established fests next year but each to their own

[Qazwerty]

Some of the behaviour of the crowd is just out of order and makes a very bad image. There is a big difference between letting loose and enjoying yourself and being a drunken prick. People pushing up to the front to their invisible friends, pissing in cups and trowing it in the air showering everyone with their piss. Acting like they don't understand when locals complain. Seriously grow up or stay at home. 

RIP Pedro.

[Mondo-kun]

IMO, the festival was mostly good. The only lack of the organisation I noticed is putting all food vans at one place near the one of the smallest stages, which resulted in giant queues. 

Highlights - FF, Green Day, Manic Street Preachers, Rancid. The main disappointment - Kings of Leon, such a boring show. 

Accident with Pedro is horrific, but it was a risky art. Unfortunately, these risks came true. RIP.

12 hours ago, Qazwerty said:

There is a big difference between letting loose and enjoying yourself and being a drunken prick. People pushing up to the front to their invisible friends, pissing in cups and trowing it in the air showering everyone with their piss.

At George Ezra's show one drunk guy started to piss right in (and probably at) the crowd, it seemed crazy!

Edited July 9, 2017 by Mondo-kun

[elias]

We got home yesterday and I really don't know if I can adequately put into words my thoughts on the festival, but I'll give it a go.
Firstly I have to say that we had the VIP package. I'm not trying to show off, but I think that this had a big influence on my enjoyment. The front of stage access was brilliant, although I'm sure it was damn annoying for those who could see an empty area of the pit while they were packed in like sardines.
The VIP pass also allowed you to walk straight in and bypass the entry queues, which I heard were really bad, especially on the first day.
The VIP area itself was very good. Unless the headliner had just finished it was pretty easy to get a drink and the staff were friendly and helpful. The viewing platform upstairs was lovely as you could see across the whole site and it was beautiful at night.
We never had a problem getting between stages. Yes, it was crowded at times, but I've been in much worse. There are places and times at Glastonbury that have had me more concerned.
Getting back to our hotel was fairly easy once you worked out not to wait in line at the taxi rank. We just walked up the road for a while and hailed a passing taxi. It probably took no more than 15 minutes to find a taxi and cost 12 Euros.

The downside:

The weather played a big part, especially on the first day. Yeah the screens didn't work, but you surely have to have some sympathy for the organisers who cannot possible have imagined the almost biblical downpours experienced. I think I saw some bloke leading animals two by two at one point. We were amazingly lucky that the evenings were mostly dry and we got to see some wonderful bands.
The food situation could certainly have been better. As far as I understand they didn't have all the food stalls in one area last year. I guess the thinking was to allow more space in the arena for toilets and bars. I've never seen so many places to get a drink! We quickly discovered not to bother trying to eat after the headliner finished - you couldn't get close. We ate on the way in or the way out (sometimes both!) and it was very manageable.
Yes, we experienced some poor behaviour from all nationalities, nothing to get too upset about, but the chatting and taking of selfies is a particular annoyance for me. At Wilco it was really pissing me off. Luckily there was plenty of space in the pit and I moved off to stand on my own and enjoy a great set in peace. On the plus side, we spoke to some lovely Spanish people who commented on how nice to was to see a family together enjoying themselves.

Finally, the big negative.
We walked past the area where Pedro was getting ready for his show as we were heading for the VIP area to get a drink and use the loos before going in to watch Green Day. We saw him inside the glass cage psyching himself up for his performance. We got into the VIP area and were in the queues for the loos when they started playing Purple Rain and the glass cage was lifted into the air. I assume the idea was for the glass floor to fall away and for him to perform at the end of a safety harness 100 feet in the air. Personally I just caught him falling out of the corner of my eye, but my wife and two daughters were looking straight at it. Thank God that there was a 10 foot solid wall around the area, so they saw him fall, but didn't see him hit the ground. They were really shook up and crying as we were held in the VIP area while the emergency services dealt with the situation. I can't start to imagine how some people who saw the whole thing would have felt. The previous evening we had watched a similar aerial show from the pit, I'm so thankful that we weren't in there to see the tragic event.
About half an hour late Green Day came on stage. We went in to watch, but the evening obviously felt very strange after that. I think my wife was in shock as she felt cold and had to keep adding layers even though it was a mild evening. Should we have stayed? I don't know. As one of my daughters said - what else would we have done? Gone back to the hotel and dwelt on it? I'm sure many of the crowd (and the band) had no idea what had happened.

The next evening my eldest daughter was still feeling ill at ease until they did the tribute to Pedro. We were in the pit waiting for Kings of Leon and they put up something on the big screens in memorium and played Purple Rain. Jesus, that was emotional, but somehow cathartic.
Kings of Leon were just amazing. I'm not a big fan, but just something about that night - the emotion, the need to just party - I don't know what it was, but we just let go and had a wild time.

I understand the criticisms being levelled at the festival and Green Day, but please go and read their official statements on the events that took place before rushing to judgement.

Would I go to Mad Cool again? Yes, if the line up was good enough, but I think the VIP access is a huge positive and I'd think twice if I couldn't get that. By the way, I think the price of this package was 340 Euros? So, not cheap, but not too bad considering what you pay to see just one major band in a stadium.
Anyway, whatever festivals you are doing over the next few months - stay safe and have a great time. I know I'll never be able to listen to Purple Rain again without remembering.

Kev

[rwoo]

I went with my girlfriend and we had an amazing time, we met so many awesome people from all over the world! The lineup was amazing and every band/artist we saw were incredible. I thought the sound was actually very good despite speaking to other people who thought otherwise, I work in the music industry and normally notice when the sound quality is dirt. I thought it was pretty easy to get from one stage to another, no worse than any other music festival. toilet queues were short at all times which was great as I have a tiny bladder, and also pretty tidy for a festival in a hot country (well very wet country apparently). 

What happened to Pedro was obviously horrific and I can't imagine what anyone was feeling who saw it happen, but I'm not sure that cancelling the festival after that wouldn't of been the right thing to do?! I guess ultimately it should have been down to the family affected. Green Day obviously must not have known what happened because there is absolutely no way they would've been able to put on that performance if they had known.

Food layout was the only negative for me, no food in the main area and massive queues were pretty frustrating but saying that I did have some pretty epic burgers from the bus lookin' burger place! Ohh and maybe next time before thinking that going to a Spanish music festival is guaranteed sunshine I will take something to keep me dry. .

Highlights for me: George Ez, Lumineers, Foos, Rancid, Green Day and KoL - Okay maybe all the music!

 

[Red Day]

On 10/07/2017 at 10:50 AM, elias said:

We got home yesterday and I really don't know if I can adequately put into words my thoughts on the festival, but I'll give it a go.
Firstly I have to say that we had the VIP package. I'm not trying to show off, but I think that this had a big influence on my enjoyment. The front of stage access was brilliant, although I'm sure it was damn annoying for those who could see an empty area of the pit while they were packed in like sardines.
The VIP pass also allowed you to walk straight in and bypass the entry queues, which I heard were really bad, especially on the first day.
The VIP area itself was very good. Unless the headliner had just finished it was pretty easy to get a drink and the staff were friendly and helpful. The viewing platform upstairs was lovely as you could see across the whole site and it was beautiful at night.
We never had a problem getting between stages. Yes, it was crowded at times, but I've been in much worse. There are places and times at Glastonbury that have had me more concerned.
Getting back to our hotel was fairly easy once you worked out not to wait in line at the taxi rank. We just walked up the road for a while and hailed a passing taxi. It probably took no more than 15 minutes to find a taxi and cost 12 Euros.

The downside:

The weather played a big part, especially on the first day. Yeah the screens didn't work, but you surely have to have some sympathy for the organisers who cannot possible have imagined the almost biblical downpours experienced. I think I saw some bloke leading animals two by two at one point. We were amazingly lucky that the evenings were mostly dry and we got to see some wonderful bands.
The food situation could certainly have been better. As far as I understand they didn't have all the food stalls in one area last year. I guess the thinking was to allow more space in the arena for toilets and bars. I've never seen so many places to get a drink! We quickly discovered not to bother trying to eat after the headliner finished - you couldn't get close. We ate on the way in or the way out (sometimes both!) and it was very manageable.
Yes, we experienced some poor behaviour from all nationalities, nothing to get too upset about, but the chatting and taking of selfies is a particular annoyance for me. At Wilco it was really pissing me off. Luckily there was plenty of space in the pit and I moved off to stand on my own and enjoy a great set in peace. On the plus side, we spoke to some lovely Spanish people who commented on how nice to was to see a family together enjoying themselves.

Finally, the big negative.
We walked past the area where Pedro was getting ready for his show as we were heading for the VIP area to get a drink and use the loos before going in to watch Green Day. We saw him inside the glass cage psyching himself up for his performance. We got into the VIP area and were in the queues for the loos when they started playing Purple Rain and the glass cage was lifted into the air. I assume the idea was for the glass floor to fall away and for him to perform at the end of a safety harness 100 feet in the air. Personally I just caught him falling out of the corner of my eye, but my wife and two daughters were looking straight at it. Thank God that there was a 10 foot solid wall around the area, so they saw him fall, but didn't see him hit the ground. They were really shook up and crying as we were held in the VIP area while the emergency services dealt with the situation. I can't start to imagine how some people who saw the whole thing would have felt. The previous evening we had watched a similar aerial show from the pit, I'm so thankful that we weren't in there to see the tragic event.
About half an hour late Green Day came on stage. We went in to watch, but the evening obviously felt very strange after that. I think my wife was in shock as she felt cold and had to keep adding layers even though it was a mild evening. Should we have stayed? I don't know. As one of my daughters said - what else would we have done? Gone back to the hotel and dwelt on it? I'm sure many of the crowd (and the band) had no idea what had happened.

The next evening my eldest daughter was still feeling ill at ease until they did the tribute to Pedro. We were in the pit waiting for Kings of Leon and they put up something on the big screens in memorium and played Purple Rain. Jesus, that was emotional, but somehow cathartic.
Kings of Leon were just amazing. I'm not a big fan, but just something about that night - the emotion, the need to just party - I don't know what it was, but we just let go and had a wild time.

I understand the criticisms being levelled at the festival and Green Day, but please go and read their official statements on the events that took place before rushing to judgement.

Would I go to Mad Cool again? Yes, if the line up was good enough, but I think the VIP access is a huge positive and I'd think twice if I couldn't get that. By the way, I think the price of this package was 340 Euros? So, not cheap, but not too bad considering what you pay to see just one major band in a stadium.
Anyway, whatever festivals you are doing over the next few months - stay safe and have a great time. I know I'll never be able to listen to Purple Rain again without remembering.

Kev

Great review

[sikhandar]

Hi guys, I'm a Spaniard who would like to apologize for the inconvenience of the weather conditions, yes, we want to be the Glasto of Spain. Personally, I think there are some points to improve such as the placement of WC and food stands. I am sorry for the death of the Acrobat but really don't understand these performances at a music festival, much easier to put a DJ playing good tunes. Rumors say they pretend to change venue to Arganda del rey next year, big place where they already held Rock and rio. A disadvantage is not in Madrid, public transport might be a problem, we will see.

[missmental123]

I went with two friends to the festival. We have only previously been to Benicassim & NOS so only have that to compare to. We all really enjoyed the festival and had a great time despite the rain!!

Although it was busy we managed to easily walk from stage to stage and found the toilet situation to be ok. In fact for Green day & Foo's we literally had a bar and toilet's  within a couple of minutes reach. We enjoyed the variety of the bar drinks and thought that the prices were reasonable! managed to get a glass of vino tinto for 1 euro on the last night!

Thought Green Day, Foo's , Rancid, Cage the Elephant were brill. Got on the front row for KOL, literally walked up to the stage 30 minutes before they came on and couldn't believe it! Although I have to say, I liked KOL shows much better years ago, I miss Three Kicks etc.

Regarding Pedro, we missed this awful accident as we were in the food court at the time and did not know anything about it until we read about on the internet in our room in the hotel at about 4am. We did think it was unusual that a band would be 30 minutes late at a festival. but we really had no idea what had occurred as I guess the audience around us was mainly Spanish, so possibly we did not understand if they were talking about it. But the crowd didn't appear upset or distracted and seemed to enjoy the show where we were standing. I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion of whether it should have been cancelled or not. It's impossible to say what the right decision should have been. We did think that the Purple Rain tribute for Pedro was a lovely touch and most of the crowd surrounding us were in tears.

We had a brilliant time, who can complain to see Green Day, Foo's KOL & the rest for 125 euro? all with a city break thrown in!

 

 

Edited July 18, 2017 by missmental123