With 53,000 attendees, Friday at Mad Cool stood out for the variety of proposals that were presented. It was the least crowded day to date (the previous ones reached 57,000), something that is always appreciated to see the concerts in a more relaxed way.
The day began with one of its highlights: Halsey. It is quite surprising that the organization decided to put it on so soon, but in any case, its set was not affected by the schedule. From the beginning, the American singer exuded a magnetism that made you unable to take your eyes off her. In the middle of the stage, a large arch with descending stairs was erected. On it, the artist approached the public defiantly.
This first part of the show (or “The Girl in the Tower: a Halsey ceremony”, as it could be read on the screens) is called “The Mother”, and it started without respite, with the enraged ‘Nightmare’, which made the flames jump on the stage. He continued with ‘I am not a woman I’m a god’, one of his best songs, which holds up great live. Because if Halsey showed anything, it’s that she knows how to elevate her music above studio recordings. His presence, his voice and his way of moving exude power and security. Even when he has to call the attention of a perhaps somewhat shy audience at the beginning of the show, he does it with grace. “Are you tired? Have you been standing here for a long time? Have you seen many groups yet?” he said in a mocking tone. “No, because I’m the first. And the Spain game hasn’t started yet. So there are no excuses. Everyone, let’s jump.”
At the beginning of the second part of the concert, “The Maiden”, Halsey, sang ‘Dog Years’ in chains. She broke free of the chains into the next song, with the pop rock of ‘You Asked For This’, which left one of the best performances of the afternoon, with the singer doing contortions while playing the guitar. Another great performance was ‘Experiment On Me’, in which he asked the audience to bend down slowly. Not very satisfied with the result, she brought out her dominatrix mode and called us pathetic: “What the hell is this? Get down! And now you’re going to get up when I say!” It was a moment of bullying that was as gratuitous as it was genuinely funny. Immediately afterwards, in a friendlier tone, she asked who among those present was a lesbian. To no one’s surprise, there were many hands raised. The next song was for them: ‘honey’.
The third part, “The Mage”, began with his macrohit with The Chainsmokers, ‘Closer’, which was widely chanted. The sun was going down and shining directly into the singer’s eyes, who put on her sunglasses and said that she had never worn them on stage and felt that she was an idiot wearing them. The audience did not agree and shouted “and pretty and pretty and pretty and queen and queen and queen.” To which Halsey replied that it was an honor to receive that now famous song. Interacting a lot with the audience, he also talked about how much he wanted to see Kings of Leon, one of his favorite groups, whom he had tried to see four times and something had always gone wrong. One of them, when she lived in New Jersey, ran away to the Tribeca festival to see a documentary about them and was almost arrested. We would have loved to know more about that story, but it was the turn of another of his biggest hits: ‘Without Me’.
In the final chapter of the concert, “They’re Raging at Me”, Halsey sang the ballad ‘Lies’ and closed with an apotheotic performance of ‘Lonely is the muse’, pouring blood (makeup, don’t be scared) from her nose.
The other protagonists of the day were, without a doubt, Twenty One Pilotswho offered one of those concerts that leave you with your mouth open. It doesn’t matter if you’re not very familiar with their music or if they’re not your style: live they are something really special. The duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun are pure energy. They didn’t stop jumping, climbing into unexpected places, getting into the audience, etc. At first, Joseph appeared covered from head to toe, with only a slight space for his eyes (so hot!). Behind his mysterious mask, surrounded by smoke and red lights, he sang and half-rapped ‘Overcompensate’ and ‘The Contract’. This last was the second song that was played and the singer was already up on a table above the audience. At the end of it, we saw his face for the first time.
One of the most fascinating things about the concert was seeing the number of instruments they both played: from synthesizers, to drum machines, piano, drums, guitars, or even a ukulele. Its science fiction aesthetic, reinforced by the games of lights and the suggestive projections on the screens, took us to a dystopian, but very attractive, place. Throughout the show, it was impossible to ignore or look away from what was happening up there. Songs like ‘Shy Away’, ‘Next Semester’ or the ballad ‘Tear in My Heart’ shone with great intensity.
Around the middle of the concert, they had a kind of opening ceremony, in which, after having shown images of Mad Cool, they lit a torch and placed it in the middle of the stage. It stayed there until the end, between sporadic flares, explosions and (even) more smoke.
In ‘heavydirtysoul’, the singer finally took off his shirt to adapt a little to the hot summer night we were experiencing and established a dialogue with the audience, who repeated the chorus with him. On the other hand, Dun, the drummer, got off the stage to greet the fans, and immediately ran to the right, where there was a very tall scaffolding. He climbed onto it (and showed us his pants, which read “Mad Cool” at the height of his ass). Once at the heights, he uncovered the drums and started playing ‘Drum Show’, giving us one of the best moments of the festival. Meanwhile, Joseph interacted with the audience, putting on his sunglasses, his hats and borrowing his fans.
As if that were not enough, during ‘Ride’, the singer went to the top of the sound tower and sang from there what was one of the most celebrated songs of the night. Shortly after, he asked a security guard to come on stage with him and had him sing. To end such a party, they went slightly out of their repertoire. In the middle of their song ‘Tally’, they performed a part of Cher’s ‘Believe’. Then, Jack White appeared on the screens presenting the duo’s version of ‘Seven Nation Army’. The show closed with pyrotechnics with ‘Stressed Out’ and ‘Trees’.
One of the most anticipated names of the day were Kings of Leonwho although they offered a very solid and enjoyable concert, were inevitably overshadowed by the party that Twenty One Pilots would throw right after. All in all, the band did not disappoint. They left 15 minutes late, starting with ‘Find Me’, which had great support from the public. Caleb Followill declared he was delighted to be there and said that Madrid was one of his favorite cities in the world.
Little by little, the group created a warm atmosphere through songs as beautiful as ‘Revelry’ or ‘King of the Rodeo’. There was some confusion when in the middle of a song they stopped the show. The singer wasn’t very clear about what was happening, or if it had anything to do with the music, because people were screaming. He immediately understood it: Spain had scored its second goal.
For most of the concert, live footage of them playing was shown on the screens. On rare occasions, they changed that for videos of skies and nature. One of them was during ‘Closer’, perhaps the best moment of the night and where Nathan Followill’s drums shined above all. Shortly after, “SPAIN HAS WON” was projected, and Nathan himself, who until then had not been wearing a shirt, put on the Spanish national team suit.
This was the last concert of Kings of Leon’s European tour, and in Caleb’s words, they wanted to end it in a nice city full of good people in the south of Europe. Fittingly, after this they played ‘Back Down South’. They finished with ‘Sex On Fire’, which as expected, received a huge ovation.
On the loaded Mad Cool poster, there was also Pixieswho, as always, went completely to their style and opted for scenic simplicity. No great light displays, no scenery, no spectacular projections. Their good work as musicians was enough. And they do it well, because their sound is impeccable: the boards are noticeable. It should also be mentioned that the main stage of the festival has excellent acoustics and can be heard well from anywhere, no matter how far away you are. And it is in a concert like this, to be calm and pay attention, the cleanliness of the sound is essential.
They started a little late, but then made up for it by going well past their allotted time. ‘Gouge Away’ and ‘Wave of Mutilation’ opened the set with honors. Shortly after, a version of ‘Head On’ by The Jesus and Mary Chain and the song ‘Isla de Encanta’ played. The singer, Black Francis, performed them passionately with his raspy voice. The sun was setting and it was very pleasant to get lost in the guitar plucks and the rock flow of the band’s classic songs. Pixies didn’t address the audience too much and anything other than playing their music was totally secondary. ‘Where Is My Mind?’ and ‘Into the White’ closed a quality concert, without fanfare and very professional. Maybe a little cold, but at 40 degrees, we’re not going to get fancy either.
On the Orange stage, we had the opportunity to briefly go through the sets of two pop artists who, with different proposals, brought color to the day. He acted first Holly Humberstonewho was very grateful for the public’s affection and for being there. ‘Cruel World’, from their new album, sounded especially beautiful. She continued with ‘Blue Dream’, also from this latest work, in which her delicate voice stood out; and with ‘Paint My Bedroom Black’, which many people sang with her.
Somewhat later, sigrid He appeared with his usual discretion. She is not the typical pop diva who wears impossible outfits and dances great choreographies, but simplicity has always been her personal hallmark. Very close and friendly, the Norwegian singer happily reviewed her career, full of festive and fresh pop with songs like ‘I Don’t Feel Like Crying’, ‘Mirror’ or ‘Head on Fire’. Ideal for a summer night.
