Mad Cool Festival 2026: One of the summer’s best line-ups makes for a sweltering celebration
Feliz Cumpleaños! For their tenth birthday, the Madrid festival throws a party to remember...
By Nick Reilly
“This is the coolest festival in the world,” comes the decisive opinion of CMAT as she attracts a massive early evening crowd over on Mad Cool‘s Orange Stage.
The roar she receives back from her fans – a heady mix of holidaying Irish in GAA jerseys and besotted Spaniards – suggests that it’s very much a shared belief.
In fact, you sense that many held that opinion from the moment that Mad Cool revealed a bumper line-up late last year to mark their landmark tenth anniversary, and one which spectacularly catered to every taste. Zara Larsson, Lorde and Florence + the Machine for the pop powerhouses lovers among us. Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters for the seasoned rockers. Pulp and Pixies for the alt-rock heads who will probably tell you they were there the first time round. Moby and Richie Hawtin for the ravers.
The point is, it’s near impossible to fail when the line-up is this good. And it’s the Foos who Rolling Stone UK plumps for when we arrive on night one. It’s the ultimate festival band playing into the hands of their crowd with more hits than it’s possible to shake a Spain-shaped stick at, although a lovely new touch emerges when they offer up a medley of stellar songs created by Foos members in their previous iterations. Sunny Day Real Estate’s ‘Seven’ in tribute to bassist Nate Mendel and ‘Manimal’, reflecting guitarist Pat Smear’s storied punk past, are just two of these.
Day two, meanwhile, is a glorious celebration of female powerhouses, with Florence + the Machine, JENNIE, CMAT and Lorde all taking to the main stage. There’s even time for up and comers to shine, as seen in the form of rising US star Sadie Jean who commands a sizeable crowd during an early evening set with a charming display of sad-girl adjacent pop. “I love writing sad music and when I go on a run of writing songs, I listen to Adele,” she explains to RS UK shortly beforehand. It’s for anyone with sad feelings. Sad perhaps, but epic in its own way too. It’s then time for Zara Larsson, attracting one of the weekend’s biggest crowds, before Florence delivers a show which proves to be a completely different beast to her recent Everybody Scream arena tour. If that show dealt with dramatics and was an extension of the record, here’s a show which acts as an overall celebration of Florence’s completely glorious career. This means a welcome return of her ‘You’ve Got the Love’ cover and a rendition of recent track ‘Buckle’ which ignites a huge crowd reaction. It’s the old and new colliding to brilliant effect.
On day three, it’s Pixies who prove to be the perfect sundowners. It’s easy to forget that it has been twenty two years since the alt-rock icons reformed, but it’s proof that they have lost absolutely none of their power in the proceeding years. This is particularly true when a late run-through of ‘Where Is My Mind?’ against the backdrop of a Madrid sunset proves to be one of the greatest moments of the entire festival. It’s followed by alt-rock heroes in the making in the form of Cliffords who attract a sizeable crowd over on a smaller stage. The ‘Bittersweet’ band’s extensive touring over the last year has only made them a more formidable proposition and it’s clear that they’re heading in the right way, backed by a particularly ardent travelling fanbase. “There are so many of you here. I can’t get over this. Are there any Irish people in? Jesus Christ. Ryanair flights are cheap,” quips singer Iona Lynch.
And talk about saving the best for last. As the sun goes down on the final day of Mad Cool, it’s up to Nick Cave to deliver the greatest set we witness all weekend. The arguably coolest man in the planet feels like a lay preacher for 60,000 people as he jumps into the crowd from the off with a bellow of “Get ready for looooove“. We certainly did. The entire set felt like a love-in, whether it was the sheer euphoria of ‘Joy’ or a heartbreaking rendition of ‘Into My Arms’ to close the whole thing. The latter, in particular, was worth missing the first ten minutes of England’s World Cup heroics for.
All considered, it’s a worthy and glorious celebration of Mad Cool’s first decade as an essential European festival destination. Feliz Cumpleaños, Mad Cool, and here’s to the next ten…