Mad Cool 2019

[the wonderwhy]

9 minutes ago, Hey You said:

I can't really understand NOS' hype. I used to go there since the very beginning (last time was in 2016). Last year I went to Mad Cool and it's far better. The festival experience can't be compared (the sound in amazing, the place is bigger which makes it much more comfortable, people go there for the music - people in Portugal go there to share pics in instagram and to speak during the shows; also "colas" in NOS Alive are really worse than Mad Cool...). I'm from Portugal and I understand why people from abroad likes Alive (life here is really cheaper). But, concerning festival experience, between Mad Cool and NOS (with a similar line-up) I would chose Mad Cool!

For me the only real downside to Mad Cool was it had precisely no festival experience beyond the acts. And no water. 

[40 Days]

5 minutes ago, the wonderwhy said:

For me the only real downside to Mad Cool was it had precisely no festival experience beyond the acts. And no water. 

Who drinks water at a festival?

[zbo]

11 minutes ago, Hey You said:

I can't really understand NOS' hype. I used to go there since the very beginning (last time was in 2016). Last year I went to Mad Cool and it's far better. The festival experience can't be compared (the sound in amazing, the place is bigger which makes it much more comfortable, people go there for the music - people in Portugal go there to share pics in instagram and to speak during the shows; also "colas" in NOS Alive are really worse than Mad Cool...). I'm from Portugal and I understand why people from abroad likes Alive (life here is really cheaper). But, concerning festival experience, between Mad Cool and NOS (with a similar line-up) I would chose Mad Cool!

couldn’t agree more

[zbo]

5 minutes ago, the wonderwhy said:

For me the only real downside to Mad Cool was it had precisely no festival experience beyond the acts. And no water. 

you have no festival experience but you can’t really do anything else because there’s no dead time between gigs

[young_contra]

16 minutes ago, Hey You said:

I can't really understand NOS' hype. I used to go there since the very beginning (last time was in 2016). Last year I went to Mad Cool and it's far better. The festival experience can't be compared (the sound in amazing, the place is bigger which makes it much more comfortable, people go there for the music - people in Portugal go there to share pics in instagram and to speak during the shows; also "colas" in NOS Alive are really worse than Mad Cool...). I'm from Portugal and I understand why people from abroad likes Alive (life here is really cheaper). But, concerning festival experience, between Mad Cool and NOS (with a similar line-up) I would chose Mad Cool!

I've been to NOS Alive since 2014 (and will keep on going) and I agree. NOS Alive doesn't really feel that much like a festival and more so of a overcrowded spot where you have a few stages. When it comes to the main stage, I almost feel obliged to see every concert near the frontline which surely will have zero people that talk during sets. I really, really want to try barcelona's Primavera someday but until then, I'll praise and recommend NOS Primavera Sound to death as a festival. 

[Red Day]

16 minutes ago, Hey You said:

I can't really understand NOS' hype. I used to go there since the very beginning (last time was in 2016). Last year I went to Mad Cool and it's far better. The festival experience can't be compared (the sound in amazing, the place is bigger which makes it much more comfortable, people go there for the music - people in Portugal go there to share pics in instagram and to speak during the shows; also "colas" in NOS Alive are really worse than Mad Cool...). I'm from Portugal and I understand why people from abroad likes Alive (life here is really cheaper). But, concerning festival experience, between Mad Cool and NOS (with a similar line-up) I would chose Mad Cool!

Interesting angle that. I found NOS to be very friendly and never had any issue with people talking during bands. Thought the sound at the stages was pretty good. Not quite as good as the sound on the main stage at Rock Werchter, but pretty close. Also thought the food and beer was well priced and not the normal rip off at festivals. Main  issue for me at Nos was toilets. They need to have more than the one between stages and the one at the back of the second stage. Other than that, I loved it.

[AAlex]

4 minutes ago, 40 Days said:

Who drinks water at a festival?

People who spent two hours queueing in 27°c heat to get in.

[the wonderwhy]

5 minutes ago, 40 Days said:

Who drinks water at a festival?

everyone in that heat ? 

3 minutes ago, zbo said:

you have no festival experience but you can’t really do anything else because there’s no dead time between gigs

there's not, but there's also not a constant stream of artists I want to see 

[40 Days]

1 minute ago, alexlloyd said:

People who spent two hours queueing in 27°c heat to get in.

Two hours? That must have sucked. Longest we spent was about 40 mins and that was on day one after coming out of Valdebebas and going to the back of the queue. By day two we had figured the better bet was working your way along the queue from the entrance, about 100m down there was a spot where you could just join it.

Plenty of bars selling water too.

[Nicklord]

4 minutes ago, alexlloyd said:

People who spent two hours queueing in 27°c heat to get in.

Always find it interesting when people from northern parts of Europe say "27c heat". I could probably be 12 hours there and not feel a thing

Edited November 8, 2018 by Nicklord

[the wonderwhy]

2 minutes ago, 40 Days said:

Plenty of bars selling water too.

 

At extortionate prices. It should be free. 

I'll defend the festival against most of the criticisms in this thread. It was its first year on that site and ran mostly fine, especially if you were sensible and proactive. But they fucked up majorly on what is a pretty damn basic necessity. 

[Gucci Piggy]

Didn't struggle to get water once at Mad Cool, even on the first day.

[Red Day]

3 minutes ago, Nicklord said:

Always find it interesting when people from northern parts of Europe say "27c heat". I could probably be 12 hours there and not feel a thing

Lucky you. I need to apply factor 50 suncream on this scale ?

[dentalplan]

17 minutes ago, the wonderwhy said:

For me the only real downside to Mad Cool was it had precisely no festival experience beyond the acts.

You’d have expected that from the off, though, right? Big corporate festival that just landed on the map a couple of years ago and all that. They provide the stages and bands and the experience is (probably) outside the gates.

[40 Days]

1 minute ago, the wonderwhy said:

At extortionate prices. It should be free. 

I'll defend the festival against most of the criticisms in this thread. It was its first year on that site and ran mostly fine, especially if you were sensible and proactive. But they fucked up majorly on what is a pretty damn basic necessity. 

Why should it? I'd say large music/sporting etc events that offer free anything are the minority these days. Huge job making that much water free of charge on a site that large too. I think part of festivalling now anywhere in the world is budgeting for water (if you drink water at a festival) throughout the time you are there.

[Gucci Piggy]

3 minutes ago, the wonderwhy said:

At extortionate prices. It should be free. 

I'll defend the festival against most of the criticisms in this thread. It was its first year on that site and ran mostly fine, especially if you were sensible and proactive. But they fucked up majorly on what is a pretty damn basic necessity. 

I dont understand why you couldn't get water. I got water all day every day from the water point, even at the end of the first day (I remember having to stand through some of Kasabian's opener whilst my mate filled our bottles.

Just now, 40 Days said:

Why should it? I'd say large music/sporting etc events that offer free anything are the minority these days. Huge job making that much water free of charge on a site that large too. I think part of festivalling now anywhere in the world is budgeting for water (if you drink water at a festival) throughout the time you are there.

It literally was free.

[40 Days]

2 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

Didn't struggle to get water once at Mad Cool, even on the first day.

Beer on day one was challenging at times. No issue at all on days two and three after they had more people working the bars and those wonderful lads and lasses under the wheel with the beer backpack things.

[visdave34]

11 minutes ago, Red Day said:

Interesting angle that. I found NOS to be very friendly and never had any issue with people talking during bands. Thought the sound at the stages was pretty good. Not quite as good as the sound on the main stage at Rock Werchter, but pretty close. Also thought the food and beer was well priced and not the normal rip off at festivals. Main  issue for me at Nos was toilets. They need to have more than the one between stages and the one at the back of the second stage. Other than that, I loved it.

Exactly the same experience here. I've been to quite some festivals in Holland and Belgium and crowd at NOS Alive was the friendliest and quitest during gigs that I have experienced. And we weren't even close to the stage.

[AAlex]

6 minutes ago, 40 Days said:

Two hours? That must have sucked. Longest we spent was about 40 mins and that was on day one after coming out of Valdebebas and going to the back of the queue. By day two we had figured the better bet was working your way along the queue from the entrance, about 100m down there was a spot where you could just join it.

Plenty of bars selling water too.

Oh i wasn't one of them ? When we got through off the road and through the turnstile to take you to the part where everyone was queueing to collect their wristbands, we saw the queue going all the way under that bridge and shuffled our way in. But I know people were queueing for hours the first day, just depends when you turn up and how willing you are to have abuse thrown at your for cutting in I suppose.

4 minutes ago, Nicklord said:

Always find it interesting when people from northern parts of Europe say "27c heat". I could probably be 12 hours there and not feel a thing 

Hahaha I would be in A&E if I spent 12 hours in that.

[40 Days]

2 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

I dont understand why you couldn't get water. I got water all day every day from the water point, even at the end of the first day (I remember having to stand through some of Kasabian's opener whilst my mate filled our bottles.

It literally was free.

Genuinely wouldn't know.

[Gucci Piggy]

43 minutes ago, arcuse said:

I'm talking about the hints they dropped leading up to it. Pretty sure they dropped on Friday right before the weekend for the Pearl Jam announcement on Monday and for the Arctic Monkeys they also hinted in the week before the announcement that AM was coming (see, Sheffield). And with hints I'm referring to the the little video's they used to post with the locations or being vague (and then deleting posts) on Facebook.

Oh, you said announcing it before anyone else and dropping hints leading up to it. I doubt them dropping a couple of hints in the few days before was a big deal.

[Gucci Piggy]

2 minutes ago, 40 Days said:

Beer on day one was challenging at times. No issue at all on days two and three after they had more people working the bars and those wonderful lads and lasses under the wheel with the beer backpack things.

Yeah bars on the first day were shit. I queued for fucking ages during Fleet Foxes and then again before Pearl Jam.

[e2p2]

5 minutes ago, Nicklord said:

Always find it interesting when people from northern parts of Europe say "27c heat". I could probably be 12 hours there and not feel a thing

Nah, coming from a very hot country I can say that the experience was hard. Manageable, but hard. It was probably more than 27c, especially with direct sun on you. Regular preparation wasn't enough. We were expecting problems so we queued at 4p.m and we took some water but clearly not enough (500 ml for both of us) as we expected that there were carts outside the festival ground that will sell basic food/drinks (there weren't any). so when we were finally got in at 18:15 all we care for was finding / buying water and then finding some shade. 

[arcuse]

32 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

Oh, you said announcing it before anyone else and dropping hints leading up to it. I doubt them dropping a couple of hints in the few days before was a big deal.

I heard it was. Festival organisators really didn't like their 'agressive' announcement strategy.

[The Martini Police]

56 minutes ago, the wonderwhy said:

For me the only real downside to Mad Cool was it had precisely no festival experience beyond the acts. And no water. 

They had the Game of Thrones iron throne, what more could you want? 

But in all seriousness, the line-up was so stacked for me that I didn't even notice too much else. What do you think they should add? Must've got lucky with water because that one baffles me, just wasn't an issue for my group at all.