Mad Cool Festival 2022

[BenG92]

On 7/10/2022 at 1:34 AM, Drums Please Fab said:

So folks. How do we get the remaining balance on our wristbands refunded?

Missus has 60 quid and I have 40 remaining........

 

https://devoluciones.idasfest.es/?event=1396 

[The Martini Police]

Great festival, so well organsied/heavily staffed. Never queued more than a minute for the bar (and generally no wait at all) and never queued for the toilets. Food queues were bad when I first tried so just went a bit later when the queues had gone. Shuttle was great, bit of a walk round the site to it but easily worth it, especially staying close to Plaza Castilla. 

So many great acts (luckily no cancellations bothered me, I expected worse) and whilst it was busier than 2019, leaving during an act's last song was enough to get a good enough spot at the next one, if that's how you wanted to play it. The run of Pixies > KoL > Editors > Royal Blood on Saturday was pretty special, and that's without even seeing Florence (except the last 2 songs) who I'm sure was awesome. 

[elias]

It's so good to see that festivals can learn from past experiences. Third time at Mad Cool for me (second time on the Valdebebas site) and this was by far the best in terms of toilets/drinks/food/getting in/water. Food certainly had long queues and times, but we just ate early or late.

We did have VIP which was great for the cheaper drinks and easy access to food and loos, but we spent most of the time in the main festival site and never really had any issues with anything. Crowds were very good I thought with many people happy to hang around a bit further back but still really get into it. Didn't see very much bad behaviour at all.

So many wonderful acts that it's difficult to pick out a favourite, but I thought The War On Drugs really pulled it off - sunset and great people around us made it memorable.

About the only thing that could be improved would be releasing details of transportation earlier as this has a huge impact on where you stay.

Damn it was hot at times (especially for the early bands) - I didn't think it was possible for a human being to melt, but I'm changing my mind after seeing The Struts in a tent!
It's lovely to attend a festival that seems to have met (and exceeded) most peoples expectations.

[Prophet of Doom]

Gotta say that for all my criticism of the organisers - it was a brilliant festival. Can’t fault anything about it.

Looking forward to next year already

 

[xxialac]

I moaned on here a lot...and was wrong.

The comms was beyond woeful but I'd rather have good organisation and bad comms than the other way round. Still don't trust them though 😉

[Dales]

After hearing about other festivals problesm this year, queues, crowding, bottle necks, lack of staff & water so I was expecting some issues. I was expecting at least a major delay in picking up the wristband on the first day, however it took around 5 minutes to pick up and get in 🙂

We all know about the transport issues but apart from that, I thought it was an amazing festival. Loved the fake grass, lay out everything. For a festival site, it was so clean everyday the site looked like new. So many good artists, far to many to mention but the ones I missed out on due toi clashes could still make a complete festival lineup that I would happy to pay for.

Was I just lucky, but I did not seem to see the casualties, drunks and carnage that you often inhabit UK events. I thought everyone seemed so nice and good natured.

My partner asked earlier, would we go again. HELL YEAH. Be  happy to bin off a few UK stadium gigs every summer to fund this. Still amazed by the lineup for the ticket price. Just need to remeber to bring a  back pack bigger enough next time to fit an aperol stool in to carry around for when I get tired 😊 They were a life saver some times towards the end of the night.

It is to soon to specalate about who we would like to see enxt year?

 

[Paulmcm1998]

First time at the festival and got to say I loved every minute of it. The organisation was phenomenal, going to a bar and getting served instantly was so convenient when you're used to at least a 15/20 minute wait in the UK. The site was pretty easy to move around and the only area which felt super busy was the food court around 9-10.  Getting home was tough the first night but they improved the uber queues each day and I'd be home each day within an hour of leaving the festival. The lineup was fantastic even with a couple of dropouts. Highlights were Metallica, Frank Carter, The Killers, Haim, Don Broco, Mura Masa and Florence and the Machine. Definitely considering coming back next year. Having been to primavera last month (week 2) and having a good time but feeling it was a bit too uncomfortable and overcrowded at times it was amazing to come to mad cool and have so much room at the main stages. The sound felt alot better than it was at primavera as well. Hopefully the lineup next year is good and the new site can handle the increase in capacity. Lastly God bless kermit the frog for appearing everywhere that weekend

[activean]

Glad you all had a great time. This lineup was just fantastic. 

 

What is the main reason behind moving the festival to new location? 

 

[Rico_Pliskin]

5 minutes ago, activean said:

Glad you all had a great time. This lineup was just fantastic. 

 

What is the main reason behind moving the festival to new location? 

 

Old location being developed I believe. Building work

[49Lawson]

Finally back in the UK late last night and all sorted. Really did not want to come home after that one, everything about that festival felt special (granted I was walking distance so never got caught up in the transport carnage)

It would be hard to single out any one act as the best of the weekend; but Metallica, Placebo, London Grammar, The War On Drugs, Two Door Cinema Club and Jack White really delivered. That Sunday run of Tom Grennan > Don Broco > The Struts > Gang Of Youths > Pixies > KOL > Editors > Royal Blood was one of the earliest days I’ve ever had a festival. But I still have to doff my cap to The Killers, because that was one of the best festival sets I’d ever seen.

Under normal circumstances we would be booking straight up to go back next year, but with having a wedding to pay for we’re probably only going to get one festival next year so we want to wait and see how the line ups fall before seeing if we can stretch ourselves to another trip back here (as well as waiting to see the logistics of the new site).

Could be a really interesting line up next year, I was talking to a guy from Middlesbrough at the airport yesterday who was discussing how he really enjoyed that it was like an “old school festival” with massive rock bands headlining, a good mix of rock/metal/indie bands in there and great up and coming bands all over the line up. I would love to see them continue that next year, especially as next year they possibly could be looking at a headline pool of the likes of: Springsteen, GNR, RATM, Coldplay, RHCP, QOTSA, FNM, Kasabian, Arcade Fire, Beck, Tame Impala, NIN and Blur. Throw in an undercard with the likes of The 1975, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Biffy Clyro, Phoenix, Stereophonics, Frank Turner, The Gaslight Anthem, Turnstile, BMTH and they could produce a festival that sells out to a certain crowd before Christmas. 

(Obviously I don’t think that they’ll get anywhere near that, just speculating on who could be around next year and available to them, and some of the headliners/undercard are completely interchangeable)

With that being said I definitely don’t think they’ll go down that road next year, a lot of the social media posts were focused on the diversity of the festival in terms of artists and genres, so I think we’d have to factor in Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Post Malone, Eminem, Stormzy and a few more pop/hip hop acts at the top of the bill next year.

Either way there is plenty of time for speculation, for now I’m just going to lounge around before heading back to reality tomorrow and just reflecting on a wonderful time. It’s great to be back!

[bluenova]

Back home late last night, and have to say I was blown away by Mad Cool 2022. The last festival I went to was Primavera 2019, which was a bit of a let down, and with three more years added to the dodgy knees, and aching feet, I was managing my expectations.

But, no need to. Band after band knocked it out of the park, and the food and drink were fantastic. Can't believe just how many bar staff there were, and getting home was an absolute breeze.

Just glad it wasn't this week as I think 40°+ might have been a bit too hot! Still, being able to sit down wherever on the astroturf made a big difference.

I had planned to go somewhere else next time (and had looked on enviously at Primavera's lineup for this year), but after this year, I'd definitely be up for Mad Cool again!

[DarthSaul]

Echoing all the positive sentiments in here- absolutely loved my 4 days at Mad Cool! Everyday we started with a bang (Wolf Alice, Nothing But Thieves, Local Natives all really good). And ended just as fantastically with Alt J, Foals and Florence. A lot of bands I thought I'd lost interest in but just the right amount of nostalgia and good new tunes made it an almost perfect festival. 

Also struggled getting back on the Wednesday- we were staying at Plaza Castilla and stupidly couldn't find the shuttle bus but every other day was a breeze. 

I went to Primavera last month too, and the difference in the crowd was the biggest positive difference- spacious and comfortable but not at the expense of atmosphere. Thoroughly enjoyed!

[Rico_Pliskin]

After hearing all the positive stories i'm happy people had a great time.

Already put money for Opener in Poland down. Going to be the first big fest me and my wife will go to together since having a baby, accommodation booked like 5 mins taxi away if i need to get back to the Grandparent babysitters in a rush. Great thing like most fests on the continent (mad cool etc ) is that main acts start quite late. 

You can all test out the new venue in 2023 and i'll prob go in 2024. 

Have accommodation booked for Madrid as well just in case, who knows, depending on the line up she may stay in Poland for an extra week while Dad goes on an adventure with his other festival partner. 

 

[adequate8]

On 7/10/2022 at 9:53 PM, johnybegood said:

Mad Cool 2023 will take place in Villaverde (south of Madrid), near Polígono Marconi.

Not the best location, imo.

it is moving again?!

[johnybegood]

48 minutes ago, adequate8 said:

it is moving again?!

Yes, it has been confirmed by local authorities.

This place is at the south of Madrid, close to M45 highway and Colonia Marconi: 

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3268044,-3.7010382,3a,42.2y,215.47h,84.61t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1syqYov9oYiG4pF5ajKUYavg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DyqYov9oYiG4pF5ajKUYavg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D351.47287%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by johnybegood

[johnybegood]

On 7/10/2022 at 11:41 PM, xxialac said:

Looks quite close to Atocha, no.

What’s not good about it out of curiosity?

Colonia Marconi is a zone full of heroine and prostitution. Just google it.

I would never park my car in a zone close to the festival.

It's hard to understand why do they have chosen this location.

[Csym]

The best festival I've ever been to (out of about a dozen including Werchter and Lollapalooza Chicago).

Special thanks also to all the Spanish people who attended. They proved to be very civilized and happy people. During the 4 days I didn't see any fights or misunderstandings whatsoever.

A few points to improve for next time: Fix cashless online top up which was unavailable after 1pm, announce transport info earlier and provide more wifi spots around the site. 

[Dales]

3 hours ago, Csym said:

Special thanks also to all the Spanish people who attended. They proved to be very civilized and happy people. During the 4 days I didn't see any fights or misunderstandings whatsoever.

This was so refreshing, compared to crowds at other festivals and gigs everyone seemed so nice. i dont think I have ever been to festival before and never seen a fight.

[jirrit]

Had an awesome experience as well. I've been to Mad Cool in 2017 but this was way better organised! I'm actually sad to hear it's moving again. Any news on the exact location & the reason why? 

I asked my girlfriend to marry me during Alt J btw so that was the cherry on top.

 

 

[jonnytee1]

On 7/11/2022 at 4:51 PM, Prophet of Doom said:

Gotta say that for all my criticism of the organisers - it was a brilliant festival. Can’t fault anything about it.

Looking forward to next year already

 

Hey I know I had a dig at the negativity in the past but I’m really glad you had a great time.

I’d imagine this festival will remain that way - a complete cock up before hand but an amazing fest once there. 
 

I had an amazing time bringing back loads of amazing memories and covid 😂😂

 

[Red Day]

23 hours ago, Csym said:

The best festival I've ever been to (out of about a dozen including Werchter and Lollapalooza Chicago).

Special thanks also to all the Spanish people who attended. They proved to be very civilized and happy people. During the 4 days I didn't see any fights or misunderstandings whatsoever.

A few points to improve for next time: Fix cashless online top up which was unavailable after 1pm, announce transport info earlier and provide more wifi spots around the site. 

Agree with that. Lovely people

[jonnytee1]

On 7/11/2022 at 5:05 PM, xxialac said:

I moaned on here a lot...and was wrong.

The comms was beyond woeful but I'd rather have good organisation and bad comms than the other way round. Still don't trust them though 😉

Echoing my statement above, as I know I mentioned the negativity.

I knew it would be a great festival but you weren’t wrong beforehand - they need to up their game in communication. 
 

im glad you had a great time

[Prophet of Doom]

12 hours ago, jonnytee1 said:

Hey I know I had a dig at the negativity in the past but I’m really glad you had a great time.

I’d imagine this festival will remain that way - a complete cock up before hand but an amazing fest once there. 
 

I had an amazing time bringing back loads of amazing memories and covid 😂😂

 

It’s actually quite unbelievable that something so shambolic a month before could turn out so well run. 
 

I promise not to moan in the run up to next year !! 

[Big Kahuna]

What a great experience, including transports, i take metro all 4 days and was 15 minutes to Station and another 15 to Nuevos Ministerioes,, people told me that buses went good as other years, so the poroblem was uber and taxis battles.

Rest was A +++, 10-15 upper level live acts ( liked Muse, Metallica and Pixies at 1, Wolf Alice , Placebo and Royal Blood at 2, and Modest Mouse, London Grammar and Editors at 3, to me the best sound stage) , no significative casualties, baths available and speed , drinks same, and food a bit longer but correct

 

So much people, but could manage to see all acts 10-20 row, easy to move between stages.

 

Finally MC matches his price/ acts unbeliable rate with good organization

It,s a pity that MC leaves that land, but IFEMA EXTENSION is in plans, so they have to manage new location in a so so zone, I hope securiyty will be ok con local forces, and all will be ok, I,ll be there for sure, 

I Hope to see RCHP, COLDPLAY, BLUR, LCD, INTERPOL, WEEZER, ARCADE and I,m afraid that Taytay or Bilile wil be heading 

 

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Big Kahuna
mistake

[Drums Please Fab]

my wristband doesn't have a code