Postcards from Mad Cool Festival: Year 1

Estas son las postales del Festival Mad Cool de Madrid, en su año 1.
A modo de cápsula del tiempo, las dejaré flotando para que en un futuro venidero, aquellos y aquellas intrépidas almas interesadas en aprender algo de como se inició esta tremenda y maravillosa locura, puedan leer estas fotos y ver con curiosidad estas líneas.

Morgan fue lo primero que me encontré tras entrar al recinto el jueves. El escenario "Under the Bridge" (rebautizado por mí, claro) se llenó de luz, armonía, talento y la voz de esta chica que te hace caminar por las nubes sin darte cuenta. Con razón fue una de las revelaciones nacionales de ese 2016.
Meanwhile we were completely covered by the sexiest raw rock n' roll of the whole festival, The Kills stormed Stage 3 like a crazy rampage. Riffs, posses, attitude... but above all, great songs at a shocking volume that put us all in the mood for ash, fire, ice and whatever they offered the audience.
The legendary The Who, more than 50 years feeding generations of eager minds. This show was especially desired. They went through their whole career bringing their biggest tunes to an audience of more than 34 thousand people. Massive rock n' roll. Yes, they played that one you could hear on CSI's intro. Yes, we danced like hell to the riffs of My Generation.
Do you think I'm paranoid? No way. Garbage had this habit of resurrecting our 1990´s hearts and lifted them up to the sky. Shirley was still Shirley and their space rock pounded the stage 2 without any pause. Huge performance where the new hits were kicking their way through an everlasting set of Garbage classics, the audience's favorites of course.
Magnetism, pulling attracting force. 60 thousand eyes seeking for that loud voice. 60 thousand ears expecting epic stadium post punk. 30 thousand smokers outside the hospital doors, racing rats hoping this beginning had no end. And there we saw Tom Smith eating up that night´s soul, between dark shadows his voice guided us to the light of Editors best songs. That was my Day 1 farewell.
Con L.A. siempre tuve amor, incluso durante mucho tiempo dudé si colocarles en nacional o internacional. Aquella tarde del Día 2 hicieron un set completamente planeado para el festival. Océanos, cielos, rojos, azules... sombreros que nos tapaban y nos cobijaban de la tarde soleada y que compusieron un rato vitalmente gozoso, rock y estribillos en una relación perfecta y brillante.
Two years of Temples. Two years waiting. They captured all the sun structures of that second evening. The stage 2 was filled with colours and spirit. With their shy look, the British band could attract the audience attention using tiny bits of their talent, making them bigger and bigger with every song they played. All the questions were answered. We were fully hypnotized by the magic coming out from their instruments. We were even able to listen to some of their second album songs, yes, that very one you enjoyed so much. Pshychedelia lived among the pillars of these Temples and we were the ones worshipping them just before the night came.
La garra del león, la fuerza de la mandíbula del león. La seguridad del león cuando acierta con la presa. La despiadada confianza del león cuando se siente y se ve ganador. León Benanvente dieron uno de los conciertos más altos de todo el festival. Su "2" retumbó en nuestro interior e hizo que el sudor latiera de nuestros corazones rabiosos mientras recibimos mensajes que llegan de California o de la Ribera. Ese espíritu indomable, sangriento y poderoso que hizo del punk con americana, el arma más afilada y cortante de León Benavente. Sí, hice muy bien en estrenarme los tapones absorbe-ruido. 
Night of Horses. Night of beautiful tales. Night of the Band. Band of Horses took our sensitive hearts as hostages. They kidnapped our souls and took them to a very special place, a place where you could only go when you really reached what you want. Wonderful, astonishing, brutal, delicate, impulsive... BOH displayed the most beautiful set of songs in the whole festival (personal opinion). They drove to Laredo and when we looked out of the windows all we could see were infinite landscapes where our life witnessed all the moments we collected. No one's love could compare to this. No ghost could haunt you forever. No funeral could finish your power. That was my exquisite Day 2 farewell.
Hello Day 3. The London Souls from NYC were a crazy duo. Crazy about mixing rock and soul and crazy about taking it to the next level. Sweat, riffs, melodies... and a good set of catchy tunes woke us up and pushed everyone there into the swimming pool of joy. It was a great shining start.
On that evening I decided to sneak around the "smaller" stages and I had the opportunity to fall in love with sounds I hadn't heard before. In a glimpse of an eye I enjoyed the dream pop cast by Wild Beasts, the presence of John Grant, the shameless rock by DIIV, the handmade folk rock by WOODS and above them all, the breath-taking voice of Lucy Rose. What a delicate and powerful voice she had. She was able to wrap everything into this atmosphere where nothing matters except songs and feelings. 
Recta final, ya quedaba poco. Pasé a ver a Of Moths and Stars, la banda guiri-argentina-española me propinó una buena tunda de rock para hacer los honores en mi despedida del coqueto escenario "Under the bridge". Canciones donde brit pop, rock y tradiciones actualizadas comulgaban en perfecta sintonía haciendo de tu sudor, el mejor fuel.
My first-ever Biffy Clyro´s gig. And then I knew why they did not have fans, they had believers. The epic of rock, the angry attitude of grunge, the calming portion of melody. The Scottish combo made a huge impact on this Day 3 night. We were shaken from the inside. Regular moments were suddenly converted into biblical like hungry wolves feasting on hopeless preys. They lit the stage and showed us the path to find that black chandelier capable of everything.
Sí, por entonces yo no era un chaval precisamente. Ya no me quedaba a cerrar fiestas ni festivales y procuraba tener en mi vida oportunidades de degustar buena música. Xoel López tocó todas las canciones que necesitaba. Patagonia, corazones valientes... historias universales que defienden que no debemos rendirnos, que no es imposible ser uno mismo en todas las ocasiones. Un broche de oro, la guinda en el pastel, el punto sobre la i, la cuadratura del círculo... llámalo x, pero para mí fue la perfecta despedida de ese año 1 del Mad Cool.

Sí, además fui muy feliz por poder hacer fotos en el foso https://flic.kr/s/aHskCFqbFZ ; https://flic.kr/s/aHskCxgsgU ; https://flic.kr/s/aHskyz8euz

Sí, también fue genial compartirlo con personas geniales y ver como gente con ilusión organizaba y llevaba adelante tal gigante locura.

Sí, también fui a la segunda edición (al año 2 como me gusta llamarlo a mí) y a muchas más que vinieron después... pero eso, querido/ querida.... es otra historia.

Toe.



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