Mad Cool 2018

[Wooderson]

Just now, eastynh said:

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

How did you get on chief? I had a ball. Music wise up there with the best of the 40-odd festivals I’ve attended.

[eastynh]

9 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

How did you get on chief? I had a ball. Music wise up there with the best of the 40-odd festivals I’ve attended.

 I thought the music was shite mate but made the most of it and had a ball. I went with a top crew who were all well into the tunes and their enthusiasm dragged me along.

Glad Depeche Mode did not fall flat on their faces as I feared they would. They are not a festival band. Their own gigs are just so much better.

Enjoyed Eels, QOTSA, Tame Impala and had a right good boogie to NIN.

As for the organisation and so on, I just let it all go over my head and got on with enjoying myself.

At the drive in was and bit of an eye opener. He walked on, spat, picked up a mic stand, chucked it and then started screaming down the mic. I lasted about 30 seconds. That was the only time all weekend I thought what the fuck am I doing here.

[birchtree29]

Overall it was a great festival for us. We had problems in the first day regarding queues and transportation but each day they started solving each problem.

Everyone wrote about Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, QOTSA, NIN, Underworld and Jack White so I want to write about the other bands that I really liked.  

Arctic Monkeys: Their new style is not liked by a lot of people but it was a very unique setlist compared to the other 30 concerts they had this year. They played From Ritz to The Bubble which they have only played 4 times this year., Batphone which they have only played 6 times and Teddy Picker which they have played 7 times this year. There is also a live stream

Tame Impala: Thanks a lot Mad Cool for having huge screens for this one. It was exactly like their concert in Panorama NYC festival that they did last year. It was also their first concert in 12 months and they played Keep On Lying for the first time after 5 years.  

Justice: Amazing live show. They have used every light available in the Loop and brought their own lights. They showed how crazy that stage can be.  

Jack Johnson: It was my first time seeing Jack Johnson and it was a great set. The part with Portugal The Man was also great.  

Franz Ferdinand: I saw them 5 times but never saw them in Europe. It was definitely much different and the crowd was so into the concert.  

The livestreams of Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails are posted on youtube

That Friday with Jack White, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand will be a day that I will not easily forget. I saw 3 of my favorite artists/bands back to back. I am not sure if I will come back next year but I will definitely be checking their lineup in January when every big festival will start announcing their lineups. I also want to thank every person here who posted important informations about Mad Cool Festival. It was a long ride since January.

 

[xxialac]

10 hours ago, SonicSleuth said:

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.

Your idea of winning an argument is to bulldoze your way through everyone and pepper your sentences with ‘period’ as if that in itself gives them greater importance. Who needs logic when you’ve got the word period?

Also kudos for your use of straw man.

[McCallion]

It's a shame to read some of these criticisms of the festival, particularly as they're largely the same ones I had when I attended last year. Was hoping for a major improvement going forwards and it's a shame these teething problems don't seem to have been addressed. For a Live Nation festival you do expect things to be a little slicker.

[elias]

Did anybody see Black Pistol Fire? They were on the Radio Stage and the crowd loved it.
By the way, I thought the smaller stages were excellent. A decent size and never had a problem getting a good viewing spot. There were a few sound bleed issues between Radio Stage and Koko (my daughter said The White Buffalo suffered a bit) but all good apart from that. Jet just about finished me off on the last night - according to my wife we walked 18 miles that day and then the uncaring buggers had the bad manners to play such a storming set that I had to dance non-stop!

For all the things that went wrong with the festival (and there were some serious issues) much, much more went right. I guess the way to judge it is that I would do it all again this weekend if I could.
My biggest regret was missing most of Nine Inch Nails. We went to see Future Islands, who were very good and had a large and happy crowd, and only got round to the main stage to see the last three NIN songs.

Oh, and Kaleo! Loved them too! Let's face it, there were so many great bands in such a small area. I'm not sure we'll ever see the like again.

[elias]

26 minutes ago, McCallion said:

It's a shame to read some of these criticisms of the festival, particularly as they're largely the same ones I had when I attended last year. Was hoping for a major improvement going forwards and it's a shame these teething problems don't seem to have been addressed. For a Live Nation festival you do expect things to be a little slicker.

I think many of the issues this year were caused by the change of site. I'm hoping that they will keep the same site next year and learn from the problems.

[SarahEmpre]

The problem in this festival is that there was much more than 80k in the site.

No scan in the wristband barcode, so I saw a group of people removing their wristbands and letting them to some colleagues outside. I realized that there were lot of people inside with no wristband. 

[The Nal]

Loved it. Thought the festival was very well organised inside aside from the absolute chimps they had running the wine bars. But even that became a bit of comedy. Genuinely never seen anything ran so badly. One of them couldn't even open a bottle of wine. She had to hand it to a customer to do it.

Instant beers though which is unique for an 80k event. Didn't queue for more than 90 seconds for beer or food or water or toilets. The beers were nice and the food options were excellent I thought. Toilets were clean. 

Missing bands on Thursday was a pisser alright. Shoddy stuff from the organisers and it seemed to leave a bad taste in peoples mouths all weekend. A lot of people on here for example bitching about anything. Lukewarm water from the taps and the like. Embarrassing really. Great banter though.

Pearl Jam were great in parts. A bit samey in parts but sounded fantastic. Caught Justice and The Last Internationale too who I enjoyed. 

The White Buffalo were great fun. I can't get on with At The Drive In though. Never got them.

Jack White was great, best time Ive seen him including with the White Stripes. Really enjoyed Alice in Chains aswell.

Saturday was big league. Hurray for the Riff Raff nailed it. Jack Johnson was at his usual shite frat pop thing. QOTSA were alright but hugely over shadowed by Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails who were the best of the weekend, in a row. Nine Inch Nails goes straight up there for me in the all timers. Wow. Dua Lipa even sounded good if you're into that sort of thing.

Two controversies I suppose were Massive Attack who came out looking like dickheads and Josh Homme whos "You work for me" security shtick is a little old at this stage. Seems the VIP area really pissed off the bands though which is understandable. The queues to get into the VIP areas seemed long. Waste of time really. 

All in, a very comfortable few days of gigs to attend. We stayed in a hotel 5 mins drive away from Ifema with a free shuttle bus so got dropped there and collect every night. Walked out of the gates at 3.40am one night and was in bed at 4.05am.

Its not like a festival though so theres nothing to do if there isn't music on so I would only attend again if they have another mega lineup. Which they may do considering the cash they seem to have.

 

 

[bluenova]

2 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Loved it.

Agree completely.

We got lucky on the first day - arrived just a few minutes before the doors opened, so didn't queue for long outside, and then 30 mins or so to get a wristband. That was the only time we really struggled with heat, so can imagine that a 2-3 hours wait on that day may have really clouded it for many.

Otherwise brilliant. Didn't have to queue at all inside. Chose food based on the queue, and could get great spots for bands, by arriving just a few minutes early. It's a compact site, so appeared busy (there weren't any real quiet areas), but surprised how easy it was to see bands close up given the numbers.

Massive Attack was a disappointment - still feel that even if things aren't perfect, the band should have told us that, played on, and then given Mad Cool hell after, and we'd have loved them for it. Festivals are always going to be a little hit and miss with sound, and fans would always prefer it to silence.

NIN were amazing - the surprise of the festival for me. Thought they might be a little one dimensional, but they really perform the hell out of those songs! Justice were majestic and there were so many more highlights.

The last time I saw Underworld it was at Glastonbury. I remember multiple bands being cancelled, my tent being under water, hour long treks between stages, through knee deep muddy water that stretched all the way to the portaloos, and much more! This was paradise in comparison

[McCallion]

1 hour ago, SarahEmpre said:

The problem in this festival is that there was much more than 80k in the site.

No scan in the wristband barcode, so I saw a group of people removing their wristbands and letting them to some colleagues outside. I realized that there were lot of people inside with no wristband. 

Yeah, this happened last year as well. Security saw people jumping the fence and did nothing about it, largely because there wasn't enough of them to cope with it

[big__phil]

My 2 cents:

The music, lights and sound were all fantastic. Noticeably so. Everything ran on time as well, although if you wanted to move between the two main stages you needed to pick one you really wanted a good spot for, but that's to be expected with big crowds like that.

The queue on Thurs was just one of those things. I've been in worse though, including the last Glastonbury. The other days I just walked straight in, so I wonder if the site wasn't quite ready on that first day. Busses home were also easy enough, leaving pretty late. The real frustration was getting a train to the festival - absolutely rammed and boiling hot.

The bars seemed to be hit and miss - the bigger the bar the smaller the queues seemed to be. Switching to spirits was a great decision - all free-poured pretty much to wherever you wanted it. Really good value compared to beer.

VIP is here to stay, sorry folks. Not a chance in hell they could book a line up that good without that extra revenue. Ideally the size of the VIP areas would be reduced or moved slightly, but that looks unlikely.

Overall, pretty decent. I'd need another really good lineup to rush back next year I think, but very glad I went.

Highlights - Big Moon, Arctics, massive vodkas, Justice, Washed Out, Mick Jenkins, vegetarian curry, NIN, the French taking over Sol celebrating their World Cup victory

[McCallion]

1 minute ago, big__phil said:

VIP is here to stay, sorry folks. Not a chance in hell they could book a line up that good without that extra revenue. Ideally the size of the VIP areas would be reduced or moved slightly, but that looks unlikely.

Other major festivals manage with out a VIP area of this scale (Werchter had an almost identical lineup with no VIP pits). In fact, Mad Cool is the only major festival I can think of that limits entry to the front of the stages based on ticket type. I think VIP is a great idea but the second it interferes with the live experience I have a problem.

[The Nal]

Were the VIP pits full for any of the gigs?

[big__phil]

Just now, McCallion said:

Other major festivals manage with out a VIP area of this scale (Werchter had an almost identical lineup with no VIP pits). In fact, Mad Cool is the only major festival I can think of that limits entry to the front of the stages based on ticket type. I think VIP is a great idea but the second it interferes with the live experience I have a problem.

I agree completely, and it's very annoying to see such massive empty spaces and bands complaining about it. As someone has previously said, ideally they'd move it away from directly under the stages, but if that's one of the main selling points (and they sold out pretty late IIRC) that aint gonna happen.

Comparing to Werchter might not be fair - we don't know what MC pay for the lease of the site, policing costs, busses etc. If they pay a lot for these things they need ways to make it back, especially if the site only has a finite number of people that can fit inside. It's not great, and nobody other that VIP ticket holders really likes it, but it's just business.

[Wooderson]

Queues for bars and food were (by and large) a hotmess. The lack of organization (single pour taps for 800ml mugs - lol!!) and foresight (no discernible queue protocol) were laughable.

Festival was saved by its lineup (best in a decade anywhere on the continent) and clientele (older and more chilled than I expected). 

You can’t lose with that weather either. That warm breeze during Pearl Jam added to a truly classic show for me.

[elias]

26 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Were the VIP pits full for any of the gigs?

Mostly, yes, for the headliners. Not packed, but fairly full
The problem is the near emptiness for the bands lower down the card.

[McCallion]

Just now, elias said:

Mostly, yes, for the headliners. Not packed, but fairly full
The problem is the near emptiness for the bands lower down the card.

I remember Foals playing to a pit with 3 or 4 people in it last year. Very odd. Looks awful for the band on film as well.

[elias]

20 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

Festival was saved by its lineup (best in a decade anywhere on the continent) and clientele (older and more chilled than I expected). 

You can’t lose with that weather either. That warm breeze during Pearl Jam added to a truly classic show for me.

Agree with this entirely. We remarked on the almost total lack of children (I don't know if there was an age limit?) and also no groups of 15 year olds linking hands and moving in packs.

The weather was just beautiful once the sun started setting.

Sorry, also wanted to add that Eddie Vedder singing 'Just Breathe' was beautiful. The family were in bits.

Edited July 17, 2018 by elias
added a bit

[MichaelsBeard]

On the train back up to Scotland from London. 

Pretty much concur with everything that’s been said RE lack of organisation. At times it just seemed like everything was really hard work (or maybe I’m just getting older). Low point of the festival - passing out by the side of the mainstage for 5 hours on the Friday - but only have my own overexuberance to blame for that one (them spirit measures were lethal!)  

What I will say is that lineup is probably the best music wise I’ve been a part of in 40 festivals. So many great sets. Would I go back? Probably not. Which is a real shame as I fell in love with the city. and I’ll remember the first half of the semi final in the city centre there for a long time. 

Going straight in from seeing Roger Waters, The Cure and Santana / Eric Clapton in Hyde Park was incredible and tops a fortnight of live music I’ll find it hard to better. 

Edited July 17, 2018 by MichaelsBeard

[The Nal]

4 hours ago, elias said:

(I don't know if there was an age limit?) 

I saw a few kids. 2 on their dads shoulders for Alice in Chains, a couple at Jack White and a couple before Depeche Mode. Not many though. Just too busy really.

Best place to flake out was on the right of the main stage towards the toilets. No queues for beer or toilets there. 

[Fuzhi]

My 2 cents:

The bad:

Queues at check in (I did not have significant problems with queues inside, though the bar staff should have been faster).

Water policy. 

Lack of information from the festival (e.g. nobody was able to tell which way I should go when the police blocked several of the roads I was supposed to take back to my hotel, for fun I suggested I could just walk across the field and kick down a fence, like I had seen somebody had done the day before. The guy from Madcool I talked to agreed it was the best solution :-) ).

Very loud talking at many concerts. I am not suggesting a ban on talking, but there where people who talked absolutely non-stop and quite loud during several concerts both in the front and bag and both with headliners and smaller bands. 

VIP pits. I have been going to festivals in the past 19 years, and it is the first time I have been at a festival with VIP pits. It will also be the last (If you give access to "ordinary people" 5 minutes before the concerts, so they are filled when the band starts I might reconsider). I do not at all mind if some people want a VIP treatment with golden toilets, champagne and meet and greets or whatever backstage, because it has never affected me. The VIP pits at MadCool was an absolute disgrace, that clearly affected both the bands performances and also my perception of them. The only concert I saw where it was at least mostly filled, so it was not a significant issue, was Pearl Jam. I was let in to the VIP pit after about 20 minutes for a couple of concerts, but it was very obvious that the bands where, understandably, mostly playing for the other side of the crowd, so it was a mixed experience.

The great:

Amazing lineup and the concerts I saw was all almost on time and without technical problems. 

Amazing sound at all stages and great large screens on the two main stages.

I loved the use of artificial grass so much I considered taken it home with me. It was a nice soft surface where it was always comfortable to sit, and I experienced no problems with dust, which are usually an issue on festivals without rain. 

Great selection of food and drinks at decent prices.

Everyone seemed friendly and Spanish women are very nice.

My top ten concerts:

1. Alice In Chains

2. Pearl Jam

3. Nine Inch Nails

4. At The Drive-In

5. Black Pistol Fire

6. The Last Internationale

7. Queens Of The Stone Age

8. Toundra

9. Jack White

10. Depeche Mode

[ConorC]

In 99% of instances the queues for the bars and getting to and from the site would’ve put me off ever returning to this but the lineup (and a few other things) salavged this massively. 

They needed some of those metal zigzag railings for queuing at that big bar in the middle of the main stages. It was just unorganised carnage. The staff struggled with communication a lot of the time and where were we supposed to get refunds for the ‘refundable’ plastic cups?

The Massive Attack thing was probably the biggest shambles I’ve seen at a festival. 2 hours spent stood in silence at prime time.

The fest was also oversold, clearly. Masses of people absolutely everywhere in main areas from about 9pm-2am. I’d suggest that this could probably be improved by introducing more big clashes but who wants that? Take at least 10k off the capacity imo.

On the flip side the sound and screens were by far the best I’ve seen. We must’ve been stood about 400 yards away for Depeche Mode and it felt like we were up at the front pretty much.

The sangria/spirits were good value once you’d actually been served, they basically tipped half a bottle of wine into your cup each time.

All things considered I’d give the fest a 7/10. If they sorted out the queues and got more metro lines to stay open all night they’d be looking at a high 9 easy.

Edit: reading my comments back it comes across as me being a bit too negative - just to confirm I DID have a really good time! Just a couple of (relatively simple) adjustments could’ve been made to make the fest a nicer experience.

Edited July 17, 2018 by ConorC

[The Nal]

Which bars were people queuing for with big queues? There were no queues at any stage at the bars at the right of the main stage. 

[Wooderson]

19 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Which bars were people queuing for with big queues? There were no queues at any stage at the bars at the right of the main stage. 

To the right of the Loop was a total mess. Worse than yer wine bar.