It’s impressive to still be standing by day three of a festival, but now we must pull ourselves up and head into the fourth and final day of what has so far been an epic Mad Cool 2026. Many of the highlights from the big Madrid bash were gifted to us last night (Friday July 10), as 53,000 people descended upon the Iberdrola Music arena to catch beloved legends and rising talent.
Check out NME‘s favourite photos snapped at day three of Mad Cool 2026 to capture all the magic below.
Karen Dió
How about a little bit of unfiltered feminist punk to get your evening going? Past NME breakout star and Brazilian modern day riot-grrrl Karen Dió absolutely tore the Mahou Reserva apart. Much bigger stages await.
Holly Humbererstone’s journey upwards continues
“You’ve got to roll with the punches and realise that it takes time to find your feet in the modern world,” Holly Humberstone told NME in conversation earlier this year. With her aptly-titled 2026 album ‘Cruel World’, the Grantham star seized the darkness and made it her own. In Madrid, she shone with her ability to turn heartbreak into something special. Keep it comin’.
Pixies make us lose our minds
Ooft. We’ve never seen Black Francis quite like that before. He really sang the shit out of ‘Debaser’ last night as Pixies majestically blasted the main stage with their quiet-LOUD-quiet-LOUD masterclass of alt classics, and with a cover of the creepy Twin Peaks favourite ‘In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)’ thrown in for good measure. What a set. Remind us where we left our minds…
Sigrid keeps the vibes alive
Norway may be facing England in the World Cup tonight but we’re all still friends for now after Sigrid brought a little cooling Bergen breeze with her for some feel-good pop built for these stages. Don’t kill our vibe.
Cliffords face a bright future
You’ll need those shades, mate. That set of arena-ready folk-tinged punk from Cork’s rising rock heroes Cliffords was one of the best things we’ve seen all year, let alone in Madrid this week. There’s a scorching horizon in front of them. Get this band in your life at once.
Kings Of Leon share the score
Did you know that Madrid is one of Caleb Followill’s favourite cities in the whole world? It shows, and Kings Of Leon returned the love in spades. “How about that Spain winning, huh?” he beamed, with the band taking the time to reveal the score of their victory over Belgium to some very delighted rock fans. He also told us that this was the final show of the tour and they wanted to end somewhere nice with good people. What a way to finish.
Interpol give us a reason to say “fuck yeah”
Interpol frontman Paul Banks impressed us with his fluent Spanish through their hypnotic set in the wee hours. We didn’t understand much of his banter aside from “fuck yeah”, but after that punchy and stylish display of post-punk bangers and showcasing the gloomy grace of new album ‘This Mirror Weighs A Ton‘, we can’t help but agree.
Twenty One Pilots grow their cult
“This is a nail-biter of a set, which begins and ends with Tyler Joseph standing on a disc that’s being held up by fans in the front few rows,” NME concluded in our review of Twenty One Pilots‘ headline display. “For any other band, that would be the most noteworthy part of the night; for these guys, it’s just another dizzying combination play.”
It’s that kind of high drama flex that gave this band such an insane cult following, and last night it got a whole lot bigger.
NME is the official media partner of Mad Cool.
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