The biggest event in Madrid’s summer calendar, Mad Cool festival took over Iberdrola Music for four days of world-class rock and pop music, bringing together over 200,000 music fans. Despite staggering temperatures of over 36 degrees, energy levels remained high well into the early hours, with an astounding variety of performers packed into the schedule across five stages. We’ve ranked the very best among them.
5. TTSSFU
It takes a certain level of cool to pull off wearing sunglasses to perform in one of the darkest festival tents known to man, but Tasmin Stephens has got it on lock. The brains behind shoegaze project TTSSFU wowed the Mahou Reserva stage, throwing rockstar nonchalance out the window in favour of weird girl antics that couldn’t diverge further from her polished musical output. She leapt off the stage mid-set, mic still in hand, twirling her way through to the back of the crowd to dance with fans (and scream in their faces), before dedicating the track ‘Baggage ‘ to her crush Jarvis Cocker. Her backing band brought an alternate-universe Beatles vibe to the visuals with black ties and too-short guitar straps, a look which starkly contrasted their grungy, layered instrumentals. Stephens ended the set with darkly punk-edged track ‘I Hope You Die,’ accompanied by dramatic red strobe lighting, before running offstage with a final shriek.
4. CMAT
It’s physically impossible not to have a good time at a CMAT show, and Thursday’s opening set on the Orange stage was no exception. Despite the gruelling heat of the early slot, the Irish superstar rolled onto the stage with full cowgirl energy, launching straight into a stream of tracks from her acclaimed album ‘Euro-Country.’ Her witty lyricism, infectious dance moves and clearly genuine appreciation for her supporters instantly won the hearts of the crowd, which grew bigger and bigger as her set progressed. No guidance was needed for the crowd to join in on everyone’s favourite dance routine to ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me,’ and an immaculately-timed two-step that carried on all the way through ‘I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!’
3. Zara Larsson
The pop world may have slept on Zara Larsson for the best part of a decade, but she’s finally getting her flowers. The Swedish superstar brought serious Barbie energy to the Orange stage on Thursday evening. Her vibrant tropical aesthetic and signature choreography left the crowd needing no encouragement to get the party started. Larsson’s contagious stage presence was fleshed out with a troupe of backing dancers in an uplifting multi-sensory celebration of girlhood. The set list was a winning combination of sleeper hits from her early career and dance anthems from post-resurgence album ‘Midnight Sun,’ both of which were met with equal enthusiasm. The vibes reached their peak at the moment everyone had been waiting for, when Zara pulled up Portuguese fan Guilherme on stage to join her for the iconic ‘Lush Life’ dance.
2. Pulp
Recognised as one of the most exciting live bands in history, Britpop legends Pulp were the ultimate choice to bring Mad Cool to a close with their Saturday night headline slot. After getting things started with apt festival ballad ‘Sorted For E’s & Wizz’ and undeniable banger ‘Disco 2000,’ the band took some well-rewarded risks with their set list, swapping out failsafe hits ‘Something Changed’ and ‘Underwear’ for newer album tracks without losing any attention. Jarvis Cocker may be a show-stealing frontman with his theatrical dance moves and inescapable charisma, but it was Candida Doyle’s genius work behind the keyboard that led the crowd through a mega-extended cut of the iconic ‘Common People’ bridge. The divide between the English and Spanish fans became clear when Cocker had guitarist Nick Webber announce England’s victory against Norway in the World Cup quarter finals, before exploding into a perfectly-timed final chorus belted out by the triumphant crowd with extra gusto.
1. Florence + The Machine
Topping off a legendary day for the pop girls, Florence + The Machine’s other-worldly Thursday headline set will go down in Mad Cool history. Opening a festival set with a song critiquing the crushing demands of fame is a questionable move, but if anyone can make it work, it’s Florence Welch. The title track from 2025 album ‘Everybody Scream’ was a sign of things to come in a set that challenged its audience to play more than a passive role in their enjoyment of the music. Crowd-pleasing hits ‘Shake It Out,’ ‘Spectrum’ and ‘You Got The Love’ were offset by cinematic deep cuts ‘Which Witch,’ ‘Heaven Is Here’ and ‘Sympathy Magic.’ Before launching into mega hit ‘Dog Days Are Over,’ Welch characteristically urged fans to put their phones away, provoking a beautiful moment that united the whole crowd in their love for the present, The moment continued for 2022 comeback hit ‘Free,’ a bittersweet closing number that gave the crowd a final helping of food for thought.
