Now we’re cooking – a sun-kissed day two kept the good times rolling at Mad Cool 2025 yesterday (July 11), boasting some big names on the bill to give Madrid that proper Friday feeling.
You can’t go wrong with a good Alanis Morissette sunset sing-along and huge crowds also gathered to watch Noah Kahan, some back-flippin’ anthems from Benson Boone, the out-of-body dancing of Future Islands, a healthy portion of indie sleaze from Yorkshire rock royalty Kaiser Chiefs and a jaw-dropping industrial goth finale from the mighty Nine Inch Nails.
See our favourite photos below…
Alanis Morissette brought ‘Jagged Little Pill’ to Madrid
Rock icon Alanis Morissette got the early evening crowd going on the Orange Stage with an anthem-packed set taken largely from her 1995 classic album, ‘Jagged Little Pill’. ‘Hand In My Pocket’ kicked things off, but a lung-busting singalong to ‘You Oughta Know’ was (expectedly) the highlight.
Noah Kahan commanded the Orange Stage
“As you promised me that I was more than all the miles combined, you must have had yourself a change of heart like halfway through the drive,” sang the New England troubadour – and the gathered masses of Madrid howled the words to his modern anthem right back at him. It’s ‘Stick Season’, baby, courtesy of future headliner Noah Kahan.
Benson Boone flipped out
There were backflips aplenty during Benson Boone‘s mammoth appearance at Mad Cool, with the gymnastic frontman perfecting his patented triple somersault and peppering the rest of the performance with the same trick. A huge crowd gathered to watch him and lapped it up every time he stuck the landing.
Kaiser Chiefs entertained the Ouigo Stage
Kaiser Chiefs continued their celebration of the 20th anniversary of debut album ‘Employment’ with a boisterous return to Madrid. As well as airing tracks from that record, they shared crowd-pleasers from across their catalogue, such as the huge singalong moment ‘Ruby’. They also took on a punk classic in The Ramones‘ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’.
Future Islands took things up a notch
Vowing to give it their all, battle the sun’s glare and play until the second they’re kicked off stage, Future Islands made the most of the penultimate show of their European tour before they disappear for a while with some growling soulful synth-pop and batshit feral dance moves. It was wonderful. Let’s hope they’re not away for too long.
Nine Inch Nails whipped up an industrial storm
It was banger after banger from Trent Reznor and co at what felt like a wedding disco exclusively for goths. With a touch of Reznor’s late friend and collaborator David Lynch to the band’s cinematic big-screen visuals, Nine Inch Nails‘ brain-melting stage production combined with their raw rock power and ever-ascending artful setlist until the glorious closing collapse of ‘Head Like A Hole’ into ‘Hurt’ made for a headline set for the ages.
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