Mad Cool 2023

The whole point of going to Madrid was for this music festival. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age, and all of Cam’s favorite pop stars were there (Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Sam Smith). It was a slam dunk. Three nights of tunes with our friends from home was fantastic.

It didn’t start that way though. Poor organization marred the whole weekend, and our first instance of that was the 2km walk from the train and 1h line to get our wristbands in the 40 degree blazing sun. Shade was a scarce resource for the whole ordeal, so our first impressions were not great. The other main example of the poor organization had to deal with the bathrooms. We experienced stampedes within chokepoints at the entrances of the bathrooms. It got so bad that by the third day when the festival oversold, the astroturf bathroom floors were soaked in piss. There was only one area for bathrooms as well, so it was unavoidable if you had to go.

Music though! The first act we saw was The Offspring, who delivered “The greatest thing to ever happen to rock n’ roll,” according to them. They didn’t play Gone Away, which disqualifies the show from that title, but it was overall a very high energy enjoyable show. We then met up with our friends to go see MGK, which was a collective mess. The only redeeming quality about that show was the most attractive woman you’ve ever seen (other than Camryn, obviously) playing guitar for him. But MGK seemed grumpy the whole time, and the songs played like they were somewhat disjointed. He also stopped singing multiple times expecting the crowd to know his songs, which they did not, so there were many empty hooks.

Lizzo was next. She was a bop, Cam’s favorite of the evening. ‘Phone’ went off unexpectedly. If you’ve never heard it, listen to it, and understand that that was somehow a top song of the evening. The energy she brought to that song was incredible. Her best song was Truth Hurts, as the whole crowd lost it.

We went to Robbie Williams after, and his show was strange. The music was very good, but he as a character was very creepy. His off-putting attitude soured the show. Out night ended with Lil Nas X, which was a major bop for Cam again. His show was more of a performance than a concert.

Day 2 was the best day. We got there later, avoiding the heat, and started with Sam Smith. His voice is wonderful, and he carries the audience very well. This was where we separated, as all of us but Cam went to go get a good spot for Queens of the Stone Age later.

She went to see Jacob Collier next, making friends with another material scientist along the way. Jacob was remarkably talented, playing the guitar and piano at the same time at one point! Overall it was a fantastic show for her.

Queens of the Stone Age was hype. They knew what the audience wanted, just the hits, and delivered. The whole audience was engaged and headbanging. The mosh pits were polite (picking up people when they fell), which is always a good sign. The only downside was that Marissa got crushed every once in a while, but for the tall boys, they had a great time. We chilled out after to Mumford and Sons, and started falling asleep, so we went home. Andrew stayed, and apparently we missed out big on The Black Keys.

Day 3 was an interesting one. We saw Liam Gallagher first, and he only seemed to play niche Oasis hits the whole night, completely avoiding any of his solo stuff. So that was a disappointment. The Chili’s were next, and the boys separated from the gals. The boys pushed their way somewhat close to the front, and proceeded to watch the Chili’s repeat Liam Gallagher, playing niche songs that deflated the audience that was so patiently waiting for a Dani California that would never come. They didn’t play a lot of their hits (Cant Stop, Otherside, Under the Bridge, Dani California, Scar Tissue, Dark Necessities, it goes on). The show was objectivly good, but the set list left a sour taste in everyones mouth.

The gals had a great time. They hung back form the Chili’s, seeing the first three hit songs, then dissapeared to The Hu, a Korean rock band. They were a vibe, but Ava Max was playing, so they joined a female heavy audience (all the boyfriends were getting mad at the Chili’s) and just had a party. The meeting up after was hilarious looking back, as all the dudes expected Cam and Marissa to be missing out, but instead it was the other way. They even had time to watch the Chili’s encore!

Overall, despite the organizational and instramental shortcomings, the fetival was a really fun time. Its really good to have friends from home come out to enjoy the festival with, it makes it that much mroe meaningful and enjoyable. The heat can bugger off though, maybe we will do a differnet one next year!