Mad Cool 2018

[elias]

10 hours ago, HommesRightFoot said:

I agree that the way homme went about inviting the people in was maybe a bit rowdy, but I have seen very very few Queens concerts where I think a young kid would have been safe standing. At the best of times people are jumping around, and if you're in certain areas you'll get squished up against the fence or tripped up or humped by some big sweaty 280lb man. You've got to be careful where you stand if you've got kids with you at a rock concert

Just my 2 cents

Sorry, I should have pointed out that my daughter is no child. She's 24 and was with her boyfriend.

I don't care what size you are, if there is a crush then you are in danger. We are not talking about moshing, we are talking about over crowding.
Homme being a bit 'rowdy' is one way of putting it. Being an arsehole is another.

Personally I've never been 'humped by some big sweaty 280lb man' at a concert.  ?
Sounds a bit painful to me.

[elias]

10 hours ago, ThisIsHappening said:

The only VIP ticket buyers that do bother me are the one who stay up at the viewing lounge the entire festival, without ever stepping down to show any appreciation for any of the bands.

Yeah, I never did understand this. You have an area right in front of the stage cordoned off for your viewing pleasure and you choose to watch from 50 yards away?
Maybe this was part of the problem. So many decided not to make use of the VIP pit that it was empty for much of the time.
I guess there are 3 alternatives:

1. Make the VIP area smaller.
2. Allow in everyone 15 minutes after the show starts.
3. Do away with it altogether.

Edited July 16, 2018 by elias
can't spell!

[ghostdancer1]

3. Do away with it altogether.

almost every single other festival manages to survive without a VIP section bang in front of the stage.

put the VIP area on a platform off to the side a little bit back, like almost every other festival does.

 

regarding why it's empty, lots of VIP tickets are handed out to sponsors/linked organisations etc. there'll be many who have little interest in acts and are just there because it's free and to socialise. it's easier to drink and chat when you're away from the stage and speakers and some band you barely know playing loudly in your ears.

Edited July 16, 2018 by ghostdancer1

[HommesRightFoot]

1 hour ago, elias said:

Sorry, I should have pointed out that my daughter is no child. She's 24 and was with her boyfriend.

I don't care what size you are, if there is a crush then you are in danger. We are not talking about moshing, we are talking about over crowding.
Homme being a bit 'rowdy' is one way of putting it. Being an arsehole is another.

Personally I've never been 'humped by some big sweaty 280lb man' at a concert.  ?
Sounds a bit painful to me.

You might "not care what size you are" but the fact is if you're a small woman who can't hold her own you're gonna get crushed. It's people like you that make for a bad atmosphere at a rock gig. People are there to have fun and bump off one another. Go to coachella next time.

[zbo]

Amazing weekend, for me great location and obviously a superb lineup.

Got really disappointed by AM set, they started quite good but totally lost the crowd in the middle of the set, to finish strong with the last teo songs but that’s not enough. At some points it looked like Turner was the only one having fun, even his mates looked bored playing.

Fortunately FF later on nailed a perfect show, and the bloody beetroots closing the main stage were pure gold.

 

[Orens]

1 hour ago, elias said:

Yeah, I never did understand this. You have an area right in front of the stage cordoned off for your viewing pleasure and you choose to watch from 50 yards away?
Maybe this was part of the problem. So many decided not to make use of the VIP pit that it was empty for much of the time.
I guess there are 3 alternatives:

1. Make the VIP area smaller.
2. Allow in everyone 15 minutes after the show starts.
3. Do away with it altogether.

MC should adjust its VIP pit on each main stage on a day-to-day basis, considering the headline acts, to avoid those half-empty pits. In 2018 there are plenty of ways to measure expected crowds among concerts (as Primavera has done successfully for the past three years). QOTSA's crowd on the Mad Cool stage obviosuly wasn't as big as Pearl Jam/Arctic Monkeys, and obviously tons of people were waiting for Depeche Mode.

It basically sounds like MC weren't prepared to handle such a massive event in multiple aspects, and it backfired. Such a shame.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Just got back this morning and in the main I had a great time but at risk of repeating what I'm sure has been said by many on here there are a number of serious issues that they need to address moving forward:

The bars: although there were enough of them, they were very understaffed and disorganised. None of the staff seemed to have just one specific role. One minute someone was serving, the next they were on the till, then they were opening ice bags, etc. There was one small wine bar which was a complete disaster. They had two people serving, one guy just standing there on the till and about five people (in branded t-shirts, albeit in black rather than white) just watching and sipping wine at the back. At one point, with at least fifty people waiting one of the two servers stopped serving, went to the back and started restocking the ice and bottles all whilst being watched by I can only assume were the bar owners, who just shrugged their shoulders when challenged by someone waiting. They didn't even think to help them open boxes of wine or restock the ice. They just stood there.

Generally, the servers didn't appear to be that experienced in recognising who was next in line either so people were getting served after waiting for five minutes before people who'd been waiting for half an hour. I'm not sure how much training was given to the servers but they were also too slow, many of them acting as though they were working in a city bar, carefully placing a single cube of ice in a cup, then going to get a bottle of vodka, opening it then slowly pouring it. Then they'd go and get the mixer and repeat. Serving one or two people in a pub is vastly different to getting through thousands of thirsty punters at a festival. It really made me appreciate the great work that WBC does at so many UK festivals. Our tactic come day two was to get your drinks in before it got too busy and chance it later on if there was a gap. Service levels aside, so many people just gave up waiting in the end so I'm sure this lack of organisation will have hit the festival organisers where it hurts most-in the pocket.

The "VIP" area: obviously this is a joke and must be changed. It must be very disheartening for a band to look out on a crowd and see the majority of the circle empty. For most of the acts this was the case. And arguably more importantly, more space in the circle means less space further back so there are absolutely no winners here. I paid 130 Euros for my weekend ticket which I still feel even after the event that this was incredible value. I'd have been more than happy to have paid 175 Euros and been able to access any area in the field. During QOTSA's set, Josh Homme recognised the empty space in the circle and ordered security to let more people in. I guess they did but I couldn't see properly from where I was.

Buses: overall I think the buses were well organised and our longest wait was no longer than fifteen minutes. The walk from the main entrance was a fair trek but this is to be expected and the safest option for everyone. I suppose my biggest gripe is the location of the drop off points. They didn't appear to be very central for a lot of people and due to the late notice of their actual existence it didn't correspond with much of the location of the accommodation that people had booked months beforehand. It was a minor issue for me though, walking through the Madrid streets at 6am was pretty cool. I didn't get a taxi from the site but the queue looked absolutely horrific every night.

Two of our party were stuck in Thursday's queues which was obviously not good for them but they quickly forgot about it and got stuck in as soon as they got through. Three hours in that heat without water is unacceptable though.

Did it feel too busy or cramped? Maybe once or twice but nothing like as busy as Glastonbury can be sometimes. Could have done with a little more space or five thousand less people, maybe. Scrapping the VIP area might alleviate much of this though.

As I said above, I actually had a really good time. All of the acts that I wanted to see lived up to my expectations (particularly Pearl Jam, Justice, Alice in Chains, QOTSA, Mode and Underworld were all amazing), the layout was decent, the sound levels were good, the weather was perfect, food options were ace (even though they did run out of a lot of ingredients come the end of the night), the festival looked pretty, the switch from stage to stage worked for me and the big screens gave you a great view of the action if you weren't close to the stage. 

Would I go to Mad Cool again? Probably not. Maybe if they booked an act I desperately want to see on an exclusive deal I would but I'd like to try one of the other more established festivals next. Maybe Werchter, Rock Am Ring or something. Lots to take on board, Mad Cool organisers. There's potentially a really great festival in here but you definitely need to iron out some serious issues if you want to survive.

[elias]

1 minute ago, HommesRightFoot said:

You might "not care what size you are" but the fact is if you're a small woman who can't hold her own you're gonna get crushed. It's people like you that make for a bad atmosphere at a rock gig. People are there to have fun and bump off one another. Go to coachella next time.

Seriously?

I thought we were having a sensible conversation about safety at the front of rock gigs. You really believe that women should not be allowed to the front of a pit?
Allow me to state once again - I am not talking about moshing. This is to do with encouraging thousands of people to jump the barriers and rush to the front. These are very different things.

"It's people like you that make for a bad atmosphere at a rock gig"   - I don't believe you know me. If you did you would find that statement particularly silly.

 

[SonicSleuth]

22 hours ago, xxialac said:

Don’t judge until you’ve heard both version’s side of the story.

FFS they’ve been touring for 30 years, dont you think three decades is enough time to build up a ‘diva’ reputation yet they don’t have one.

If they were treated badly by mad cool and its shitty organisation skills I don’t blame them for cancelling.

 

This pit safety argument is dumb. People should be able to go to a concert and be safe, any other argument is completely irresponsible. No matter how much they paid, people shouldn't be getting crushed just because others feel like it. Have some common sense.

As for Massive Attack, I get it, some of you are apologists. They're in the wrong, period. Nobody else cancelled their sets. Fans bought tickets because they wanted to see MA, and they didn't. Again... NOBODY else cancelled their sets. The Loop sounded great no matter what else was happening. They douched out, period, and deserve to be called out for it.

[HommesRightFoot]

1 hour ago, elias said:

Seriously?

I thought we were having a sensible conversation about safety at the front of rock gigs. You really believe that women should not be allowed to the front of a pit?
Allow me to state once again - I am not talking about moshing. This is to do with encouraging thousands of people to jump the barriers and rush to the front. These are very different things.

"It's people like you that make for a bad atmosphere at a rock gig"   - I don't believe you know me. If you did you would find that statement particularly silly.

 

I never said women shouldn't be allowed at the front of rock gigs. I don't think people in general who can get pushed around or injured easily should be there. I'm a big dude and I've been hurt at gigs before. I can only imagine how easy it would be for someone with a smaller build than me to be hurt. 

At the end of the day, Josh inviting people over the barrier might of made you worried or concerned for your daughter. But I know people whose whole weekend was made by that single event. They were given a night they're never going to forget because of Josh deciding to take liberty into his own hands. And I commend him for that

[Mad Season]

Any idea if we can buy online merchandise?

Most of nice shirts were out of stock last day (couldnt bear more queues the first two days)

[The60ftOctopus]

On 7/13/2018 at 6:30 PM, stiltzkin said:

Yes, opening gates were a shambles. Yes, several bar staff are fucking clueless. Yes, the €1 cup nonsense should have been explained better (basically, buy first drink, swap your cup when you get second, and repeat. Yes it's €1 extra, but it's not a bad souvenir to take home - has the line up on the side etc). But these are all teething problems, and it's honestly a pretty decent little festival if you can get past the niggles. 

Pretty much the same gripes as you. Had to wait 45 minutes to be served at one point. Plus there should've definitely been more water points.

That being said, I had a great time. Met some great people, the sound was probably the best I've ever heard at a festival. The organisation was shambolic, but I reckon this will be a lineup we look back on in years to come.

Also did anyone see that one of the buses went off a bridge? Basically sums up the festival ?

 

[maelzoid]

Nine Inch Nails were an absolute highlight for me. Coming so late in the weekend, I was quite drained and hitting the stage minutes after Depeche Mode (also brilliant) was actually quite overwhelming. I found my second (or fifth?) wind and got into a lively part of the crowd and went for it. Someone here has already pointed out the cool camerawork they employed, a cameraman on stage with the band basically, not hiding in the wings, it gave the screens an documentary verite vibe that really worked. I don't know what's eating at Trent, but for a sober, married, father of four, he managed to dredge up quite a bit of rage and the show was all the better for it. They were the perfect end to the festival for me. It did lead to one of the most incongruous changes in tone I've ever witnessed at a festival with Dua Lipa following - within 5 minutes we went from "I hurt myself today" to "Do you wanna party?"

The full set from the screens including that camer work is here (for now):

 

[elias]

35 minutes ago, HommesRightFoot said:

I never said women shouldn't be allowed at the front of rock gigs. I don't think people in general who can get pushed around or injured easily should be there. I'm a big dude and I've been hurt at gigs before. I can only imagine how easy it would be for someone with a smaller build than me to be hurt. 

At the end of the day, Josh inviting people over the barrier might of made you worried or concerned for your daughter. But I know people whose whole weekend was made by that single event. They were given a night they're never going to forget because of Josh deciding to take liberty into his own hands. And I commend him for that

I honestly don't know where to start to reply to some of the statements in this post, so I'll just say that you and I have very different views of inclusivity at concerts and leave it at that. Debating further will do me no good.
I suggest you never attend a Frank Carter gig.

[stubbs]

We went to mad cool 2017. It was a shambles then. I know they've changed venues but seeing reviews and reading comments, it seems they learned nothing from last year's. Madrid is a lovely city but this festival is badly organised. 

[HommesRightFoot]

33 minutes ago, elias said:

I honestly don't know where to start to reply to some of the statements in this post, so I'll just say that you and I have very different views of inclusivity at concerts and leave it at that. Debating further will do me no good.
I suggest you never attend a Frank Carter gig.

I've no intention of doing so hahahahhah

[zeppelin]

Sorry to get in on the VIP area debate but my thing is I just hate this pay-to-win part of life. And this isn't restricted to Mad Cool by any means. In my opinion just because someone pays a bit more or has more money than someone else they should have no right to a better experience. It annoys me that bands let it happen (see the outrageous golden circles at Hyde Park). Some people save for months to be able to go these events and then someone else gets preferential treatment. Not because they're a bigger fan, just because they have more money. 

Again, this isn't a (solely) criticism of Mad Cool, and yes I can understand why events do it. 

[maelzoid]

1 hour ago, zeppelin said:

Sorry to get in on the VIP area debate but my thing is I just hate this pay-to-win part of life. And this isn't restricted to Mad Cool by any means. In my opinion just because someone pays a bit more or has more money than someone else they should have no right to a better experience. It annoys me that bands let it happen (see the outrageous golden circles at Hyde Park). Some people save for months to be able to go these events and then someone else gets preferential treatment. Not because they're a bigger fan, just because they have more money. 

Again, this isn't a (solely) criticism of Mad Cool, and yes I can understand why events do it. 

I pretty much agree with everything here. Not only is it elitist, which surely everything rock n' roll should be against, but it takes away from the experience of the fans and the bands - the only winners are the promoters and those rich enough to take advantage of it. 

I can just about tolerate it at a dedicated gig where artists are there for the headliner, although I found it ironic / hypocritical at Roger Waters, when he sang Pigs followed by Money to a gig with a gold and a diamond circle!

But I think golden circles have no place in a festival. Sure, it was full for Pearl Jam, but when one of the headliner's (QOTSA) are unhappy with how empty it is, something has gone wrong. I felt for the earlier acts especially, both Eels and Wolf Alice were playing to open grass astroturf, and I think it affected the atmosphere.

 

[chrisophe]

Getting involved in this thread... I had a "VIP" ticket for the weekend. I'm glad I did as it meant that I was able to avoid the huge queues on day one, although I must say that it was embarrassing at times how empty the front stage areas were.  I complained to security during the early/late sets asking them to let non-vip ticket holders into the area as it was clearly empty. At points it kinda killed the atmosphere as it was clear that artists were performing to the other half of the crowd.

My wife and I weren't worried in the VIP pit during QOTSA. There was still plenty of room after people jumped in and I've experienced far worse crowds at regular gigs.  I guess it just depends on what you are used to...

Although we had the correct wristbands, many times getting into the VIP areas was carnage.  Security in your face, people pushing from behind. It was a real scrum.  It was so bad just before Depeche Mode that my wife had to get lifted over the barrier to the front stage area by security due to the crush. She promptly gave them a piece of her mind about the festival's organisational failures and how dangerous it all was. Security agreed but said they could do nothing due to the rules imposed on then and resources (small plastic barriers and striped tape) they had been given. The entrance needed to be a single file track well away from the pit itself.

Last year's festival felt more organised, with less queues and better facilities although last year I had a regular ticket so didn't have to put up with the constant and unnecessary rule changes from the VIP security (stopping then allowing people to leave the VIP area with drinks, allowing then stopping the cups to be moved in and out of the VIP areas) and the venue was in a much better location to get home.

Although it was clear that issues were being ironed out as the weekend progressed, amateur hour when there are 80,000 people on site is not acceptable.

I'm attending Austin City Limits in Oct which is always managed professionally. The premium ticket for ACL that has its own section in front of the main stages costs $3000 for the weekend (out of my price range I'm afraid ?)but because this prices so many people out, the area at the front of stage is tiny, so no bands or regular ticket holders even notice it.

Personally I won't be attending next year, it has been fun, but I feel Mad Cool has grown too big too soon. Hopefully all these issues are resolved and learnt from for next time.

[elias]

48 minutes ago, chrisophe said:

Getting involved in this thread... I had a "VIP" ticket for the weekend. I'm glad I did as it meant that I was able to avoid the huge queues on day one, although I must say that it was embarrassing at times how empty the front stage areas were.  I complained to security during the early/late sets asking them to let non-vip ticket holders into the area as it was clearly empty. At points it kinda killed the atmosphere as it was clear that artists were performing to the other half of the crowd.

My wife and I weren't worried in the VIP pit during QOTSA. There was still plenty of room after people jumped in and I've experienced far worse crowds at regular gigs.  I guess it just depends on what you are used to...

Although we had the correct wristbands, many times getting into the VIP areas was carnage.  Security in your face, people pushing from behind. It was a real scrum.  It was so bad just before Depeche Mode that my wife had to get lifted over the barrier to the front stage area by security due to the crush. She promptly gave them a piece of her mind about the festival's organisational failures and how dangerous it all was. Security agreed but said they could do nothing due to the rules imposed on then and resources (small plastic barriers and striped tape) they had been given. The entrance needed to be a single file track well away from the pit itself.

Last year's festival felt more organised, with less queues and better facilities although last year I had a regular ticket so didn't have to put up with the constant and unnecessary rule changes from the VIP security (stopping then allowing people to leave the VIP area with drinks, allowing then stopping the cups to be moved in and out of the VIP areas) and the venue was in a much better location to get home.

Although it was clear that issues were being ironed out as the weekend progressed, amateur hour when there are 80,000 people on site is not acceptable.

I'm attending Austin City Limits in Oct which is always managed professionally. The premium ticket for ACL that has its own section in front of the main stages costs $3000 for the weekend (out of my price range I'm afraid ?)but because this prices so many people out, the area at the front of stage is tiny, so no bands or regular ticket holders even notice it.

Personally I won't be attending next year, it has been fun, but I feel Mad Cool has grown too big too soon. Hopefully all these issues are resolved and learnt from for next time.

I don't disagree with any of this. I'm not trying to defend VIP areas.

My wife and I weren't worried in the VIP pit during QOTSA. There was still plenty of room after people jumped in and I've experienced far worse crowds at regular gigs.  I guess it just depends on what you are used to...

Over many years (christ I'm getting old) I've been in every size crowd going, many before there were safety barriers or pits or golden circles or whatever they are called. Things were way worse back then and I honestly feared for my safety once or twice. Roskilde changed everything in terms of safety and things are distinctly better now.
I agree it never got too full after some of the crowd jumped the barrier during the QOTSA set. There was still plenty of room, but my point is that there was no way of controlling the numbers and it could have got out of hand. The fact that it didn't is more due to luck than anything else.

Thanks for discussing in an adult and intelligent way. It's what Efestivals should be about.

[JSmurphy]

I had a very enjoyable festival and have come away with mostly very positive thoughts. To start off,

THE BAD
- The entry queues on Thursday were, as everyone's said, big. I can't complain as I lucked out with a spot toward the front of the queue and was ushered in by security after just 20 or so minutes after arriving. I totally understand why so many people were frustrated with it as I heard reports of ~90 minute wait to get in. No shade, water facilities and toilets nearby was an oversight too. 
- The large queues at some of the bars on the Thursday was frustrating too. This is down to the bar systems failing, which I heard from others had happened at other points during the day (the bar staff were handing out of plenty of ice for free for whoever asked though). 
- The VIP area was clearly too large. I actually appreciated how it only restricted access to one side of the stage rather than the entirety of the front of stage like many golden circle areas do at gigs. But yeah, it looked absolutely ridiculous at times and the organisers surely must agree.

THE GOOD
- Probably the best set of live performances I've seen over a weekend at a festival. Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age and Tame Impala were stunning but I really don't think I saw anything I'd consider bad. It lived up to the billing. Probably my favourites excluding the obvious big hitters, were The Big Moon and Coro Novoa.
- The screens at the two biggest stages, and the sound at every stage, was brilliant. You could be a considerable distance away from a stage and still see and hear it all. I said it earlier but The Loop was an amazing stage. Tame Impala's visuals were incredible to see. Got me imagining how mind-blowing King Giz would be on there. 
- After the Thursday, I didn't queue for more than 10 minutes for drinks at any point. The bar at the Thunder Bitch stage was always quiet and the bars nearby were equally quick and painless. I timed it as to not meet the mass migration after a big act had just finished and it worked out perfectly. The amount of spirits you could get for €16 was great value. 
- The 'alternating two main stage' setup worked very well. You couldn't see a run of two acts both in the pits at the front, but if you opted for a far back spot for one, you could easily get a great spot for the next. I easily got to the front of the stage for Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails by doing it. 
- The festival was pretty accessible by train and the bus journey to Colon was quick and cheap for three nights. I thought aesthetically the festival looked wonderful and the weather was brilliant too. I thought the fake grass was a great idea although I know some people got some static shocks from it. 

TL;DR some organisational issues on the first day but stellar music, sound, weather and quick service meant I had a thoroughly enjoyable time. I'd definitely consider going back again if the lineup was somehow as good. 

[Yelo, the Parmiggiana]

I won't spend a word about what I (and you all) said about the organization, that may have improved in the second half of the festival, but still the result is totally non sufficient for a festival of 80k of attenders.

I only have 3 things to say that I think nobody stressed enough here:

1. You cannot release 3days tickets after the sold out without giving any official announcement of it from the beginning. I bought 3 single days ticket to partecipate. It costed me almost 300 € and than they randomly released new 3 days' "to fight secondary ticketing", which is just bullshit, cause I would have probably spent less buying a 3days in secondary circuit (which I refuse to do as a principle). If they want to "fight secondary ticketing" they shall take a batch tactic releasing wave of tickets in limited numbers, rather than go 95%-5% at some random unofficially announced point.

2. The area of the festival is too small for 80k people, Im not referring to bars or shade spots or chairs and table (but only because it has been said a lot about it already), rather to the whole site. Too small for 80k, period. 

3. Venues are too small. To be more precise, Second Main Stage was big as Sziget Europe Stage in terms of pure stage, Koko suffered from huge sounds bleed and The Loop was way too small as a venue to host such a big players (Massive Attack sends their regards). Also, the terrain of the stage is irregular although they tried (hopefully in an innocent way) to cover it with the fake grass: there were some spots where I could be the tallest and I couldnt see a thing because it was in a hole compared to rest and viceversa.

 

Having said that, I go for the top 5 of the festival, IMHO (could be a top 10, but out of 17 bands I saw it sounds pretty odd):

1. Nine Inch Nails

2. Pearl Jam

3. Queens of the Stone Age

4. At the Drive-In

5. Underworld

6. Tame Impala

7. Jack White

8. Slaves

(I swear I tried...)

[robillustrates]

Good evening,

I flew back in London this lunchtime from Madrid after attending my first full festival abroad and I chose it to be Mad Cool 2018, I went as a VIP ticket holder (purely because the three day weekend tickets were long sold out) or not as it turns out when they released 1,000 more right before the festival (which wasn't appreciated)

I had an amazing weekend. Can't fault the performances, everyone I saw was good to amazing, highlights being personally Pearl Jam, NIN, Queens, Tame Impala and Depeche Mode.

My observations:

- The late release of the arena map was clearly a prelude to the fact the organisation in some areas of the festival wouldn't be up to scratch. I do appreciate however how response Mad Cool were and they did make noticable improvements day on day as the festival went on and that didn't go unnoticed with me.

- The walk to and from the metro was something barely mentioned going into the festival and quite unpleasant during the festival. As i had my wristband already and arrived at 7pm on the Thursday, I missed all the issues with the queue, but to leave people out there in the sun with no water was just criminal quite frankly. I heard so many stories of people taking 3-4 hours to get home in queues, i was quite lucky with the metro and cabs that it never took me more than 45 mins to get from the metro station to my hotel.  

- I didn't appreciate their policy on first refusing to let water bottles, then the amended approach of letting you in but losing the lid, the easy way round that was to keep the lid in your pocket during the search and job done.

- It took till Friday to release where the free water station was but luckily no issues with that beyond there.

- felt sorry for the bar staff to a certain extent, some were in way over their heads particularly on the thursday, many clearly lacking basic bar or even work experience before making a variety for drinks for people, many of which with language challenges between some staff and festival goers. Can't imagine the VIP was an easy gig at all to be honest so fair play to them really despite some bad etiquette, Opting to chat amongst themselves or clean when feeling tired or overwhelmed.

- the gents toilets to the right of mad cool stage were a joke if you needed a cool of nature, often only one loo was available leading to a solid 20-30 minute queue if you couldn't hold it any longer for the numero dos.

- The lack of a water station outside the festival was just wrong, even if they charged for drinks that would be better than nothing, i know they did address this on the saturday though.

- Water shouldn't be 2 euros for 33ml bottle. simply no. 1 euro max, that was a bad decision.

On VIP -

- I had a far better weekend being a VIP than I ever expected or imagined, I had great views for every act I went forward for. With acts as good as this lineup, that was just incredible. On the barrier or front rows more consistently than any other festival i've ever been to.

- The VIP bar was great, loved it up there to be honest, it was a good break from the general crowds, great prices, bit cheeky but i can't complain with that side of it at all.

- Yes the VIP spaces were too large, the entrances were too central as well and would have worked better if stretched right out to the perimeter of the stage itself. I don't personally think they need to get rid of these spaces, they can even keep the very front, it is vip after all but they didn't need to be as large and deep back into the crowd as they were. VIP crowds at bands like Tame Impala were painfully small.

- I had no issue with people being let in the vip area, would have preferred it in a slow and steady consistent manner rather than flying over the fence QOTSA style but it was that very act where i found some friends who i enjoyed QOTSA, Depeche Mode, NIN and Jet with so it actually also worked to my benefit. I did worry for a moment at first how busy or crowded it would get but there was enough space and it wasn't too overcrowded at all so again no reason to complain there from me.

VIP helped me enjoy the bands I was so passionate to see in a way I never expected to, so for that it was value for money and it was great.

- I get the frustration over large empty spaces and yes they should have gradually filtered people in to fill them out in a safe manner, but people getting all rowdy blocking the entrances like Jack White and shouting 'no one gets in or out' is simply immature and not on, despite what a moral cause they believed they were fighting, it was pathetic to be honest. That's an issue with the organisers not the people there to just enjoy good music like everyone else so don't spoil their fun.

All in all I had a great time, it's no Glastonbury, nothing comes close, but I made friends, I had fun, I enjoyed great music and Madrid is a lovely city, really surprised me how much I like Madrid as a place.

Would I go again, depends on who went and whose playing, but I would defo consider it.

It was a 9/10 as a festival as Glastonbury can't be topped.

 

[Wooderson]

4 hours ago, Yelo, the Parmiggiana said:

I won't spend a word about what I (and you all) said about the organization, that may have improved in the second half of the festival, but still the result is totally non sufficient for a festival of 80k of attenders.

I only have 3 things to say that I think nobody stressed enough here:

1. You cannot release 3days tickets after the sold out without giving any official announcement of it from the beginning. I bought 3 single days ticket to partecipate. It costed me almost 300 € and than they randomly released new 3 days' "to fight secondary ticketing", which is just bullshit, cause I would have probably spent less buying a 3days in secondary circuit (which I refuse to do as a principle). If they want to "fight secondary ticketing" they shall take a batch tactic releasing wave of tickets in limited numbers, rather than go 95%-5% at some random unofficially announced point.

2. The area of the festival is too small for 80k people, Im not referring to bars or shade spots or chairs and table (but only because it has been said a lot about it already), rather to the whole site. Too small for 80k, period. 

3. Venues are too small. To be more precise, Second Main Stage was big as Sziget Europe Stage in terms of pure stage, Koko suffered from huge sounds bleed and The Loop was way too small as a venue to host such a big players (Massive Attack sends their regards). Also, the terrain of the stage is irregular although they tried (hopefully in an innocent way) to cover it with the fake grass: there were some spots where I could be the tallest and I couldnt see a thing because it was in a hole compared to rest and viceversa.

 

Having said that, I go for the top 5 of the festival, IMHO (could be a top 10, but out of 17 bands I saw it sounds pretty odd):

1. Nine Inch Nails

2. Pearl Jam

3. Queens of the Stone Age

4. At the Drive-In

5. Underworld

6. Tame Impala

7. Jack White

8. Slaves

(I swear I tried...)

At The Drive In was a fucking blast.

[eastynh]

On 7/13/2018 at 9:50 AM, Wooderson said:

Myself and the Nal followed matters like General Melchett observing his barren wasteland on Twitter from the relative comfort of our hotel bar’s terrace. Got hotel shuttle to IFEMA at 10.30pm and walked straight in. PJ and Justice were ace.

You and Nal were that? What a shame that I did not know as I would have had a beer with you's.