Can you believe it’s been 10 years since the first Mad Cool? They grow up so fast! The Madrid festival is certainly celebrating in style, with a stacked lineup that includes – deep breath – Foo Fighters, Florence + the Machine, Twenty One Pilots and Pulp. And that barely scratches the surface of a massive knees-up that’s also hosting Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Halsey, Lorde, Kings Of Leon and so many more.
Before you start packing your bags for this summer’s sunny sojourn – let’s play a little game, shall we? Bingo cards at the ready – here’s what to look out for during the biggest sets.
Foo Fighters
There’s a lot going on under the surface of Foo Fighters’ comeback single, ‘Your Favorite Toy’. On one level, it’s a fuzz-box rocker packed with Dave Grohl’s trademark snarls and pile-driving guitar. Yet it’s also a statement of intent, in-keeping with the stadium behemoths’ recent face-melting gigs at London’s 2000-capacity Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Manchester’s 1500-capacity Ritz. After the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins and the departure of his replacement Josh Freese, Grohl and the gang are getting back to what they do best: rocking the fuck out.
The band’s last album, 2023’s extraordinary ‘But Here We Are’, was an understandably melancholy affair. By contrast, the frontman has revealed that their upcoming record – also called ‘Your Favorite Toy’ – consists of 10 “noisy, loud bangers” and is “uptempo, like back to the old days”. We’ll raise a drink to that.
You’re guaranteed to see: Dave Grohl, sweat-streaked locks tangled across his eyes, bellowing “HEY!” while knocking out a monstrous guitar riff. Bonus point if the set lasts longer than a Martin Scorsese movie.
Florence + The Machine
If Foos have proved themselves kings of longevity, despite all the hardship that’s been thrown their way, Florence Welch isn’t far behind them. Almost two decades since the release of punky debut single ‘Kiss With A Fist’, she’s still at the top of her game, as last year’s ‘Everybody Scream’ proved. NME awarded Florence’s sixth album a full five stars, with Laura Molloy writing that the record is “an homage and a prayer to generations of women who came before and will come after”.
Partly inspired by Welch’s near-death experience due to an ectopic pregnancy, it’s both dramatic and fearsome, qualities present and correct in a live show that combines roof-raising operatics with folk horror visuals: coven-like dancers, blood-red clothes and spooky swathes of dry ice. Alt-rock doesn’t come any more gothic – or more accomplished – than this.
You’re guaranteed to see: Florence twirling around barefoot. She famously broke her foot at London’s O2 Arena in 2022 and carried on dancing, splattering blood across the stage. What more do you need to know?
Twenty One Pilots
Probably the biggest cult band in the world, Twenty One Pilots continue to furrow their own unique path. Across eight albums, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have hopped through pretty much every genre imaginable – be it rap, rock, pop, electro, indie or reggae.
Speaking to NME in 2021, Joseph ascribed this eclecticism to the music scene in their native Columbus, Ohio: “We’d find ourselves one day on a hip-hop bill, then on a pop-punk bill, then on more of a metal bill… Everyone we rubbed shoulders with became a part of who we are.”
What makes them really stand alone, though, is the complex narrative lore woven into their songs, as a character named Clancy battles a bunch of bad bastards known as the Bishops. The songs are so catchy anyone can love ‘em, but the mythmaking is catnip to the Skeleton Clique, the Pilots’ devoted fanbase, who are sure to be out in force at Mad Cool.
You’re guaranteed to see: The lads are renowned for their lavish stage shows. Expect pyro.
Pulp
How many bands could release their first album in over two decades to the same rapturous response they received in their heyday? Jarvis and co. were always going to garner attention with last year’s ‘More’, the belated follow-up to 2001’s ‘We Love Life’, but it was the record’s sheer quality that took us aback. What a delight to hear that time hasn’t dimmed the Sheffield art-pop heroes’ knack for a winsome melody, and that the frontman’s lyrical wit remains as sharp as ever.
Less surprising is that the band remain a formidable live force, given that Pulp have reformed twice since their dissolution in 2002. The new tracks sit remarkably well alongside the classics – when you can comfortably wedge comeback single ‘Spike Island’ between ‘Disco 2000’ and ‘F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.’, you know you’re onto a winner. This is more than fans could have dared to hope for.
You’re guaranteed to see: Jarvis “shouting and pointing,” as he wryly puts it on ‘Spike Island’.
NME is the official media partner of Mad Cool. Tickets for the festival are available here