Summer festivals would not be as exciting without several months to speculate about which artists will take the stage next year. At Festileaks we always keep an eye out for rumours. In this article, we ask ourselves: who will we see at Mad Cool 2021?
2020 is forcing us to stay home, as festivals around the world are cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mad Cool 2020 will be cancelled, so we look forward and think about the next edition of the Spanish festival. Who will we see at the festival in 2021?
This is the list of the main rumours (in random order).
Headliners of Mad Cool 2020
We can safely assume that Mad Cool’s first priority is to move its 2020 line-up to next year. Therefore, the biggest rumours are the artists who were supposed to headline this year’s edition. Kings of Leon, Faith No More, Twenty One Pilots and The Killers have all announced rescheduled shows for 2021, so they will almost certainly return.
On the other hand, there is no news yet around Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Mumford & Sons. Taylor Swift was the only artist who officially cancelled her show before Mad Cool did. The festival made an announcement to inform the audience, saying that they were “already working hard so that sooner or later (they) can bring her back in a future edition.”
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys have been very quiet since they finished the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino tour in 2019. However, rumours are now circulating about possible homecoming shows in Sheffield in 2021. Locals have spotted a licence notice for 4 to 6 June at Hillsborough Park. These early summer dates could very well be the start of a bigger Arctic Monkeys tour. Will Mad Cool be part of this?
Coldplay
Normally, a new Coldplay album would be followed by a tour around Europe. However, after the release of Everyday Life in November 2019, the English band announced they would only consider touring when this is possible in a climate-friendly way. On the Belgian radio, frontman Chris Martin confirmed that they expect this to take at least 18 months. A quick calculation gives us 2021 as the start of the next Coldplay tour!
Red Hot Chili Peppers
After Red Hot Chili Peppers announced the return of guitarist John Frusciante, we were all eager to see them perform. Of course, the band’s 2020 shows did not go ahead, but they will now return to Europe in 2021. The Peppers have confirmed headline shows at Pinkpop and Ejekt 2021, in the Netherlands and Greece. With the renewed hype about the band, it is very possible they will add more shows, including Mad Cool, to their tour. In the meantime, we can still enjoy their legendary performance at Slane Castle in Ireland.
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa could be the hottest headliner of 2021. New album Future Nostalgia is a huge commercial hit, and also received rave reviews from the critics. Singles ‘Don’t Start Now’, ‘Physical’ and ‘Break My Heart’ are all bangers. Although Dua was only scheduled to headline Sziget in 2020, it would surprise us if the British singer does not add more dates to this festival tour next summer.
Arcade Fire
Great news for Arcade Fire fans: Montreal’s finest indie outfit are back in the studio! The band’s new record will be the follow-up to 2017’s Everything Now, which was followed by a large tour around the European festivals. It’s easy to predict that shows will also be announced to promote the next album, so Arcade Fire are certainly possible for Mad Cool 2021.
Eminem
Eminem was a strong rumour for 2020 already. After releasing a surprise album in January, there were many reasons why we hoped a tour would follow. With the coronavirus pandemic preventing all shows this year, we will never find out if the superstar rapper meant to come back this summer. However, it is very much possible that Eminem will announce a series of festivals for 2021 instead. Will Mad Cool be one of those?
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails’ last performance at Mad Cool was in 2018. The American band had a tour planned for 2020 that included shows at Primavera Sound and NOS Primavera Sound. However, they never released official dates at the tour got cancelled in October 2019. Now, we can only guess what other festivals were they supposed to play and will they return next summer.
Muse
In a recent interview with NME, Matt Bellamy spoke about the band’s future plans. The Muse frontman confirmed that they’re likely to start recording a new record in 2021. Depending on the coronavirus restrictions, the English rockers will then start touring again. The question is whether this will be next summer, or the year after.
Mad Cool 2021
Mad Cool is an annual festival that takes place in Madrid, Spain. Only at its fifth edition, it has nonetheless quickly gained international recognition. In 2019, it was headlined by The National, The Cure, and Bon Iver. Acts like Disclosure, Tash Sultana, American Authors, Greta Van Fleet, The 1975, and many more performed there as well.
- Location: Madrid, Spain.
- Date: TBA.
- Tickets: TBA.
- For more information, visit the official website.
