Live report: July 13th, Mad Cool Festival Madrid, Spain

I sit here on the train trying to get a few minutes of rest before the next venture but Mad Cool Festival has me all wired up with the little details and the wonderful experience that I would like to share if you take the time to read this.

From the beginning- after my last experience at Nos Alive, I wasn't in any hurry to get to the venue. The last show left us wanting more, sore, dehydrated, tired,sunburned, sore( said that already because I was still feeling it) but the songs that echoed in my heart and mind made all that bearable.

So to begin, we approached the Venue around 4:30pm by Uber. We did not wait too long at the general entrance before we were let in but it seemed a bit strange to me that no one was allowed in. A few who had purchased the three day pass were allowed in but for all the rest of us we were held off at a checkpoint. The sea of Cure shirts was impressive. A wish era shirt, a Hyde park, some replicas, some old- some new, very impressive site, I would say a 100 or Cure heads. We were told that no one was allowed to go inside until 5pm. I didn't have the required bracelet to enter the venue at the time because it wasn't send on time to me before my departure. The famous bracelet, as I called it, travel to my house in California, then send to gongoro73 in Spain but it never made it in time to acquire it.

When we were finally let in. A rush of Cure fans ran 50 meters or so to the security point. I figured that there were way too many folks who already had purchased the 3 day pass and there was no need for me to run like a madman and tired myself. Not to mention, the Bear suit was heavy. Slowly and calmly I walked to the bracelet place and acquired the famous bracelet. Then we headed to the security point, got checked from top to bottom and was told not to bring the bear suit in. The security guard chuckled a bit at the sight of it and call his colleagues so they could see my suit. A few folks showed up and they all laugh at it. A few minutes later I was released and granted access to continue inside.(ok! The suit part I made up everything else is the truth- traveling suit still missing!)

Walk in to a massive venue. Five stages or so based on the handout given at the entrance. A
huge layout! To give you a prospective, the ground covered in artificial grass, three futbol fields in length by 2 futbol fields in with all mashed up together. I made myself to the Mad Cool stage which of course was in the back. No rush, I grab a few photos here and there, calmly walking to find a spot were I could watch out boys from. Remembering that Reeves and Robert prefer the left side of the stage I came to a fork in the road that separated the ground level by a massive scaffolding structure what seemed important but rather in the way. As I approached my destiny there were a surprisingly 15 to 20 fans hugging the rails already. A shocker to me, I figured that by 5:40 or so the venue would have been already filled with fanatics like myself. I asked if the spot was taken a few times until I got the the railing as you can see by the photo posted by sang. What a spot-P E R F E C T!! I checked my watch, 5:35 pm, looked at my phone, messages Gita and informed her of my spot. Look at the temperature..90 freaking degree. You go to be kidding me!! Ok. Time to hunker down and "Bear the heat".

As I scan my spot I introduced myself to Tomas who was on the left to me dying with exhaustion. I asked him why he was gasping for air and he explained to me that he ran the whole way to get to the spot left of me. He looked at me and asked why are you not sweating? I told him, no rush, cool calm and collective and I made it here. He was rather surprise. Settled in now, I asked him to watch the spot and proceeded to grab some water and snacks in preparation. I kind of know the routine now. You have to be ready to stay put for hours. Unless you have a good group with you and you quickly make friends who watch over your spot you don't wont have any provisions and will suffer. I Grab a beer, a few waters for the long day ahead. Upon returning to my spot Tomas seemed pale and ready to give in. I looked at him, reached for a water and gave it to him. He was very grateful and promised to get me one once he settled in.

To my right of us, Elisabeth and Emanuel, surprisingly from Mexico, accompanied us on that rail. Now we were 5 strong! Checked my phone again and noticed that Gita had made it to the Festival. A few seconds later someone on the other side of the rail came by with a water hose and sprayed the crowd with water. Most people cherish that little gesture because we were "Cure-ing in that spot"! Way freaking hot. Johnny freaking Marr came on at 6pm. WHAT!! Didn't expect him at all. He sang 3 songs by the Smith- Bigmouth strikes again, How soon is now, there is a light that never goes out and from Electronic group song-getting away with it. I was already delighted by the end of his set. The funny part was that there had to be a complain of some sort because the cops were there checking on the noise level. I laugh and though-wait until the Cure starts.

Almost forgot, met MauroMellis photographer who I met in previous Cure concerts. He took a few photos of us and I of him. Unknown to me stood a girl with a yellow shirt. Could this be- yes it was Gita had found me. I love your shirt by the way, even if steve mentioned that you have it backwards, I want it. Gita and I chatted for a while. Sorry about making you tear up a bit about my little facts about the Cure. 1996 the best ever!!

The group Gossip came up next.. I like the lead singer. She didn't give a shiat and was entertaining. She wore a black wig on stage and a golden dress which seemed heavy and uncomfortable. After her second song she called her assistant because she couldn't bear the heat any more. She hid behind a large speaker on the right side of the stage and changed right there for all to see. She was funny! Came out from behind the speaker and mentioned that she couldn't stand the heat. Said she was going to play the whole Faith album and praised The Cure. Love her from there on. After her fourth song she took her black wig off exposing her red hair midsong. She mentioned that she was going to sing Lovecats and couldn't wait to see The Cure Live. She also mentioned that she hoped they let her watch the show. When ahead and ask Robert on stage if she could. Her exact words." They better let me! watch me if they don't". She ended her set and stirred the crowd enough before she left.

Six hours passed and the tension was building since my arrival. The Cure fans from Spain-better known as the #hispacure had their little rally on. One of the members had the sign of FAITH and Simon Rules. Saw the stage hands set up our boys. No way to go anywhere now. If you moved you lose your spot. I checked my phone one last time and saw the text by gongoro73. He had made it to the venue. I replied and told him we had to meet up after the
Cure. No way for me to escape for a quick photo as I was trapped on my lucky spot. Right before the boys walked on stage Elizabeth commented "Que voy hacer cuando mire a Roberto?" -What am I going to do when I see Robert? She said it as though he was family. "No lo e mirado en tres años! que voy hacer" -have not seen him in three years what am I going to do. She spoke as he was family-which to me felt nice to hear..

Now to the best part- Plainsong kicked things off. The boys made their way into the stage. Jason hair high as stiff. Robert walking slowly and scanning the crowd. Shy to say the least and only raised his hand mid waist has someone shouted his name as to say hello. He walked to my side looked at in my direction and smiled. Then saw the Faith sign and tilted his head slightly to the right and smiled away. Walked to the right of the stage, rolled up his sleeves as to say time to have fun! Twirled his fingers at the crowd and teased them all. The crowd exploded at his shenanigans. Tears flowed a little as he started to sign. Hey! it was a bit dusty and windy at the place. I think that's what it was. An allergy of some sort. "Some times you make me feel like I'm living at the edge of the world" sang Robert. I felt the passion and so did the crowd as a few of us sang along. The first song was over and a "gracias and hello again" from Robert ensued.

Pizza time already as the second song came on. Thought about picturesofyou and wondered what gif was being posted on the forum. Certainly something funny. High played on as robert made hand gestures to the clouds and even played with his lips as he sang "it made me want to make bite my fingers through" a good sign that robert was going to be animated.
Just one kiss- nice and calm like lioness mentioned. Soothing and heartfelt. Robert ending the song with the little extra on the guitar as he has been doing for the festivals.

"Whenever I'm alone with you, you make feel like I'm whole again" the crowd sang along to Lovesong! The entire song. Robert sees the Faith sign again and sticks his tongue out at it.

Last Dance and tears again!! Damn the dust..the background purple and dark..hypnotic state.I Love it. Robert building the mood. Slowing down the tempo. Wireless microphone, the courage
to go without the little notes on his guitar!! So nice to see. "I'm so glad you came" comes premature but I don't care. It's one of those moments where you wish you were there to see. Only a few handfuls of fans around me noticed it, but all those streaming can tell.

Robert picks up the penny whistle and the crowd goes wild to the sound of Burn. Simon feels playful and grabs Reeves with his free hand. I get the feeling as if the challenge is to come. While Robert blows the whistle Simon and Reeves "guitar fight" behind him like two roosters
getting ready to get it on. Reeves backs off a bit and smiles. Simon and Revees go back and forth behind robert until Simon finally shoulders Robert as to say. "Hold me back bro! Hold me back!" Simon Heads over to Roger and they chat as the song ends.

Reeves let loose as Fascination street kicks off.

Time to sing and dance!! Never Enough!! Reeves solo. Look at those fingers move. My air guitar is ready. So glad I packed it and brought it with me. Time to shred!! The whole crowd shouts " It's never enough". Robert acknowledges and let's the crowd sign on his behalf.

Push and the crowd stars clapping. "GO..GO..GOOO"- "No..No..Noo" "Push it away"!! The hands way up. A sea of Ohhh.ohhh...ohhhh.ohhh erupts as socks fly off. Everyone signs and dance. Robert ends the song and has his acoustic guitar him and I whisper "The Blood please" but...

Just Like Heaven kicks off. The crowd static and follows along.

FTEOTDGS red sea background so beautiful and mesmerizing. Hands in the sky on command all go up.Reeves flings his guitar high up in the sky, the sign for me to start shredding. I'm sure steve is on Q too.

A night like this and pollen in my eyes once again. Thank God I hydrated and have plenty of water left. Prayers for rain-the crown is ellectrified!! Signing along. So nice and in sink. Robert smiles and he listen to our:
ohhhh.whooo.ohhh.ohhh.Whooo.ohhhhh.

The green monster is next and I run towards it. "We love you Robert" I shout it as loud as I can for the world to hear. I close my eyes and bask into The Forest. I put my hand up and count the again's with my fingers hoping Robert would do more than 21. *clap-clap-hey! *clap-clap-hey echos and simon let's it rip in the end.

PRIMARY- died and gone to heaven!! Robert injects "thinking all day about Suicide"! Blissfully
perfect!!

The doggie song wags its tail and I can not help but laugh at the thought of the dog on the couch falling off in the forum. Shake..shake..shake...shake..shake..shake-shake dog shake!!

39 now or as ninja says 27. They are off a bit. Technical problems of some sort. El maestro Reeves sound is a bit off. He knows it and brings his head to the guitar and kisses it. That's do it!! Back on track. Oh wait..simon is having problems too. He vanishes behind the smoke and heads to the back of the speakers. He is gone for at least 25 seconds..*@pipperoo and the fans base panic. Simon's keeps heading to the back once again. Upon his return he seems upset. looks up at the scaffolding structure and slams his fist on his leg as the song comes to and end. Tomas senses the change and a " Huy-u-huy" (oh-oh) resonates from him. We tense and hope for a change in set list.

Disintegration kicks off but it's off. Simon knows it. Power to the bass and the keyboard seem distorted. Robert looks around but doesn't panic. He keeps playing. Robert's pedals are off and Roger tries to tell Eden about it. Robert realizing this signals to Eden and gestures at the ground as to say bring it down. Roger and Simon head out to the back as soon as the song is finished. Clearly something is wrong. End of the main set.

Strangely Eden comes out and set a new setlist and places it for Simon. I get goose bumps. A change this late-please.please...please I think to myself! 


Encore time! Robert comes out hugging and talking to Simon. Simon is clearly upset. He talks
to him for a while. The crowd knows this and shouts "simon-simon-simon-simon"(Spanish accent injected here). Reeves goes over to simon as Robert is obviously emotional and says
"this is uh..arggg. a few well known songs to finish" as Reeves gives Simon a hug and a kiss on the cheek in the background. Robert checks his guitar and knows it's good to go as he frets a few notes. Good to go now. PHEW!! 

Spider- thank God for my #antispidergoogles. Roger does his best #Robertlittledance and makes Simon smile. Oh no!! Spiderman is in the crowd..help me please. He is fully dressed and is hanging out with Hispacure. Lovely, simon noticed it and smiles. That finally settles him down. The song is over and Reeves wipes his Glasses on his shirt. He should of wore the entispideygoogles as I did. 

No moth is sight, methinks the heat killed them all! Caterpillar plays on. Robert is a dancing
mood. Things are upbeat now. Smiling and singing. The group is in tune again. Robert finishing his song without choking on a moth and even does a little "chu-chu-chu-chu-chu-arrrggg" I say he was imitating his choking on a moth from before. 

The walk and Jason Cooper hair is no longer in form. His hair has definitely been taken out for
a walk.

Friday comes Robert singing it acapella. The blue heart with a red dot illuminates the screen
and the crown keeps dancing.

Robert dares once again and goes wireless to Close to Me. Teases the crows as he walks the
stage. This time the stage is small so no way Robert is going to get lost.

Why can I be you!! Darn it, No bear suit!!! Sorry lioness . Roger waits for Robert on stage before the song starts. He doesn't want to get ticked like he did at Nos Live. Robert instead grabs him and twirls him around. He is having fun again.

A pre strumming of the last song to come. Robert mumbles something- damn my translator ran out of battery. sang help here. "Our last song is called, Boys Don't Cry" the everlasting song soothing which means the end. No Blood tonight but what is this?! Simon plays a few bass notes of Faith!! Fainted..nice..wooohooo!! then its done.

Simon sets his guitar down and heads over to Eden and gives him a hug. I guess he is over whatever it was that was bugging him. Jason takes a few second to stand up, waves to the crowd and gives us a thumbs up. Reeves grabs his pick and flings it on the right side of the crowd. "Thank you see you again says Robert as the crowd begins to chant "Ole, Ole, Ole-Robert-Robert. Ole, Ole, Ole, Robert-Robert". Robert puts his hands on his face with disbelief, shakes his head and walks off..to be seen again I'm sure.

That's the last I saw of Robert. Hung around for a bit, hoping to get a set list. One, two, three disappeared before me. One even was passed backstage. Bastards!!

Now to meet the robot gongoro73 . It didn't take long for us to find each other. Among the thousands of people a text away and he was right behind me. As soon as I saw him I hugged him. Just like good old friends. We never met before then but it was an instant brotherly love. We laughed, he told me the story about his backstage shenanigans, which I love, and before we knew it an hour has passed. I mentioned to him that he better come see me in California. We shocked hands and waved goodbye. See you again friend! 

I didn't get The Blood tonight but at least I got a good show, shook the hand of the lead singer from gossip when she was allowed to go up on the VIP area, saw and took a picture with Mauro/mellis who I haven't seen since Hawaii, got me a set list from Johnny Marr, but above all met Rafa not a robot and made a long time friend.

steve-please fix the spacing if you can



 

But...

...unfortunately, it wasn't Prayers For Rain, but Play For Today!

I actually knew about the “Simon rules” and the “Faith” signs from a group on Facebook - and that explains probably why Simon gave us a little Faith-bass...
Right?

Hello! Found some time to write about my thoughts & exprience of seeing The Cure this summer. This is a continuation of my Portugal story…
So I arrive to Madrid, step outside the Airport and get back in, in a second. +40 C ?! Crazy! I find the bravery and go again into the hot air of Spain, drive directly to the hotel & have some rest, night before Mad Cool.
I wake up in my hotel room on 8th floor (actually 9th! Spanish counting system is weird!) to the sound of construction works in the building next to me. I look outside the window & Madrid from this point of view seems a bit too grey, nevertheless I know that this day will be colourful, rich in new experiences & feelings.
Before the show, I walked around Madrid just a little and it is very strange that you can’t buy one single separate ice-cream in a store. If I take all the 6 in a pack, they will melt before I get to the hotel. Seems that in Spain you always need to hang out with 5 other friends Before the show I contacted fiveswinglive if he wanted to meet up at the festival. And we did meet, by chance actually. I tried getting close to the stage this time too and it turned out that I picked a spot right behind fiveswinglive who recognized me & introduced me to his wife & friends and later after the show to gongoro73, so there was a good company while waiting for The Cure & after seeing them too. We were so close to the stage, how lucky! As it got dark, the band went on stage to the sounds of what I call little crystals and Plainsong it was (this one gets me bit teary too, of course..). The crowd was great too, lots of singing along and fun – didn’t expect to see The Spiderman himself, haha. Had to agree on signs that said ‘’Faith’’ and ‘’Simon rules’’. Just a few lines of Faith was cruel, yes, but also sweet that they noticed that and somewhat dedicated.. Maybe next time we’ll hear all of it.. For Mad Cool there were no new songs I haven’t heard before live, but the night was great anyway. Songs like Burn, Primary, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, 39, Disintegration are so big live. I am blown away. Do you ever get the feeling that you are inside of a song? And you don’t notice anything else.. So far I have heard Disintegration 3 times and with every time it makes me cry more and more, however it’s played.. To see The Cure live is like an emotional carousel, but it is good to feel. Their music is so alive!
It seemed that in general Mad Cool was well organized, free water in front of stage (drinking water & just splashing water on audience to freshen up from the heat…), fast taxis/buses for festival goers after the concerts. Downside is that they didn’t have any cider. But people were nice and I could practice my Spanish a little so overall I think I’d like to see The Cure in Spain again
Now that I'm home, I've been thinking more of Finland in August.. if anyone wants to join!

Here some pictures that I took in Madrid...

Gita, we have single ice cream stores available, I promise!

Very nice writing. It was so good to meet you. Enjoy the rest of the summer!