July 11, 2024 – Mad Cool Festival, Madrid, ESP

Show Notes:

Lukin opens for the second time this year, just like at Bottlerock. In fact, the first 11 songs are exactly the same as what was played at that festival back in May. Ed leads a energetic call and response during…

Show Notes: 

Lukin opens for the second time this year, just like at Bottlerock. In fact, the first 11 songs are exactly the same as what was played at that festival back in May. Ed leads a energetic call and response during Corduroy. Before Small Town, Ed has a sheet of paper, he starts to speak in Spanish but then switches to English:

“…Welcome to a show about friends…we are all friends, you are all friends, we are friends…”

He continues in Spanish, talking about what a beautiful night it is and how magnificent the country is. Mike is pogoing throughout the beginning of React, Respond and shreds the solo, his sparkly jacket that he started the show with removed. Jeff starts the actual W.M.A. bassline as soon as Ed starts singing the Daughter tag. Ed speaks in Spanish again, a running theme throughout the show of “Y tambien…mi gran gran amigo…” (And also….my great great friend) talking about a different band member each time, Matt before Dark Matter, and Mike before Even Flow. Unthought Known makes its 2024 debut. Ed sees an issue in the crowd before Black but it’s evidently taken care of quickly. Big singalongs all night long, the crowd is loud on Black especially. Mike’s Black solo is again showstopping, this song is on an incredible run right now. Ed walks up behind him and gives him a big hug from behind as the solo ends. Prior to Porch, Ed talks about the first time they played there, at Club Revolver. He talks about his two brothers, Jason and Michael, back home in California; their birthdays were yesterday and today, one of them is 50 and he jokes that he doesn’t know how old the other one is. He asks for someone to record and has the crowd sing Happy Birthday to them. Mike starts off the Porch jam slow, almost psychedelic, but then ramps it up quickly as Ed dances beside him. Speaking of Ed, he runs way out in the middle of the T barricade during the jam, getting an up close look at the crowd. He stays down there as he comes back in vocally, urging the crowd for more. Black, Running, and Porch also closed out the Bottlerock main set. It’s all crowd favorites in the encore, starting with Better Man. Ed asks for the crowd to sing extra loud, and they oblige. He’s running all along the side stages and dancing during Alive, the band’s in a great mood all night and energy is high. As Stone is soloing during Rockin’ in the Free World, Jeff motions to Mike to switch instruments and they do, Mike taking the bass and Jeff strumming on guitar. Before Ledbetter, Ed takes a moment to shout out Motxila 21, a Spanish music group made up of people with Down’s Syndrome, saying “they are amazing people…we are proud to be on the same stage as all those incredible people…remember that we are friends.”


July 12, 2018 – Mad Cool Festival, Valdebebas – IFEMA, Madrid, ESP

Show Notes:

Release builds up very nicely to open. Ed starts a brief callback with the seeming intention of throwing the crowd off guard before rushing into Lukin. Corduroy includes the extra solo from Mike during the new breakdown section. After Why…

Show Notes: 

Release builds up very nicely to open. Ed starts a brief callback with the seeming intention of throwing the crowd off guard before rushing into Lukin. Corduroy includes the extra solo from Mike during the new breakdown section. After Why Go, and perhaps referencing the organizational chaos marking the festival’s first day, Ed’s greeting to the crowd in Spanish relates a conversation about the amount of people in attendance: “A friend told me… ‘No, you don’t understand, the people in Madrid are insane’ and I adore insanity, so here’s a big hug to all my crazy friends.” Ed speaks in Spanish again before Even Flow, recalling how Mike first played the song in Madrid 26 years earlier to a few hundred people: “He played amazing that night, but wait ‘til you see him play now.” Can’t Deny Me is introduced with a dedication to “all the strong women in the audience who will change the world” and a PSA video featuring actors Luis Tosar and Javier Bardem reminding the men in the audience that “no means no,” eliciting rousing applause: feminism and violence against women are especially prominent issues in Spain at the moment. Ed wraps up Wasted Reprise by adding “Enjoy your last breaths, old men, of racism and sexism, you fuckers are going to die and it’ll die with you.” Better Man gets the slightly extended version of the Save it for Later tag. Mike, Stone, and Jeff spend the breakdown of Porch in a three-person guitar circle while Ed steps down to the ground and walks down a corridor stretching into the VIP area closest to the stage to mingle with the crowd (hugs and even a kiss included). Just Breathe intro is interrupted by someone from the crowd’s expression of affection, and Ed responds “You’re very nice… I love you, too” before going on to describe the song as about “the big love…as big as the oceans…as big as the Spanish summer sky, as big as the crowd at the Mad Cool Festival” and invites the crowd to illustrate how big they are by lifting the lights of their phones to be projected on the stage screens, and finally dedicates the song to Bardem and Penélope Cruz. Ed precedes the “We Belong Together” tag on Black with “Lo siento” (I’m sorry), and heads back to the crowd during “State of Love and Trust” for help singing. Possibly pressed for time (a few more bands are still scheduled), and after one more hug for Ed with the crowd, Matt signals a somewhat abrupt end to Alive, and the band immediately transitions into Rockin’ in the Free World to end the set, skipping the second verse, but not without a timely lyrical adaptation (“there’s a million points of light for the immigrant man, open our hearts while we can”) to bring the night to an end.

Written by: Eric Stevenson Gonzalez