elias

£35 tickets. Well done Mr Heaton.

It has always amazed me how loud the stages are at Womad. That being said I thought the sound in the D&B Soundscape tent was excellent. Snapped Ankles and The Comet is Coming provided a great surround sound experience.

Thanks very much. Not too bad considering. Just about the same as Glastonbury prices in fact.

Can anyone that's been to any of the days so far tell me how much the drinks are? I assume they'll be as ridiculously overpriced as these things normally are.

You pay per pitch - 6m x 6m - and it covers two people. Shouldn't have a problem with a 4/6 man tent. There were lots of tents that size this year, but they mostly fit within the allocated space.

Maybe the fact that you were barely alive when Appetite came out puts you in a weak position to comment on its impact compared to those who were? Not having a go - as you say, music is subjective - but it resonated in the rock world massively. Not a huge Guns N Roses fan, but had a great time.

They had a tent a few years ago called Bourbon Street. Wish they'd bring that back. Mostly blues/Americana.

Lukas Nelson and The Promise Of The Real are in the country just before Glastonbury and in Dublin on 23rd. Could make an appearance?

I've no idea where The Chicks will play, but I could easily see it being one of the smaller stages. Zac Brown Band played in 2013 to a small crowd in the Acoustic tent. Country music has definitely grown in the UK since then, but a high spot on a smaller stage is just as likely as a lower spot on the Pyramid. Only really started listening to them recently and I'm liking them a lot. I'll see them wherever they're playing (clashes permitting).

Bit of a reach there Supre. I mean I'm a big Springsteen fan (going to 5 gigs on the tour this year), but to defend high ticket prices and dynamic pricing on the basis that he needs the money is laughable. He sold the rights to his music to Sony for £500,000,000 last year. He also has portrayed himself as a man of the people for nearly all of his career. Flies in the face of that somewhat. Capitalism at its worst. Just because you can charge exorbitant amounts for something doesn't mean you should.

There are other gates apart from the main ones (A, B, C & D). I assumed that is where any abuse of the system would happen.

Don't know what's happening but a friend just got us tickets after See Tickets said it was sold out. Agreed it's a shit show though.

It's so good to see that festivals can learn from past experiences. Third time at Mad Cool for me (second time on the Valdebebas site) and this was by far the best in terms of toilets/drinks/food/getting in/water. Food certainly had long queues and times, but we just ate early or late. We did have VIP which was great for the cheaper drinks and easy access to food and loos, but we spent most of the time in the main festival site and never really had any issues with anything. Crowds were very good I thought with many people happy to hang around a bit further back but still really get into it. Didn't see very much bad behaviour at all. So many wonderful acts that it's difficult to pick out a favourite, but I thought The War On Drugs really pulled it off - sunset and great people around us made it memorable. About the only thing that could be improved would be releasing details of transportation earlier as this has a huge impact on where you stay. Damn it was hot at times (especially for the early bands) - I didn't think it was possible for a human being to melt, but I'm changing my mind after seeing The Struts in a tent! It's lovely to attend a festival that seems to have met (and exceeded) most peoples expectations.

Metro is the way to go if you have a hotel close to Nuevos Ministerios. We arrived at the station just about 2.00 am and got on the second train. I think this might have been the last train of the night so leave enough time. Trains run to 4.00 am for the next 3 nights so shouldn't be a problem. Bars and toilets excellent last night, never waited long for anything. Placebo and Twenty One Pilots were excellent.

The 1.00 am finish on the Wednesday will be even worse. Mayhem outside I reckon unless then run the metro late.

Last time we went you could take in water in plastic bottles, but they took the tops off. We just took the tops off ourselves and hid them in our hands then put them back on when we were through security.

Was going to post a long reply as to why I enjoyed it so much but .... fuck it. Damn great, especially the last 90 minutes.

Any news on transportation to and from the festival yet? I'm hoping they'll run the metro again.

I've been to both (although many more times to WOMAD). I think they are considerably different. Wilderness is very middle class - as Incident says champagne parties, hot tubs, banquets etc. I had a good time but it's certainly not what I would have considered a 'festival' 30 years ago. WOMAD has a family/older demographic who are much more likely to embrace a more alternative lifestyle. Quite a lot of locals attend as well. I always find the crowds at WOMAD to be very accepting of many different forms of music, as is implied by the festival name. I also think the crowds are enthusiastic. There may be lots of chairs around the main stages, but there's also a lot of dancing and general enjoyment.

I'm not sure that bad communication and organisation will have much impact on future sales given that these issues have been part of the structure of Mad Cool since the first festival. The first one we went to at the 'Magic Box' site had awful rain just as the gates opened. The start was delayed and there were all sorts of issues with power outages and credit card machines not working. Not much Mad Cool can do about the weather, but it didn't seem like they had even considered the idea that it might rain (exposed electrical connections etc.). The second festival at that site had the terrible death of a performer and the complaints of the way that was handled. The first festival at the new site was hampered by all sorts of problems on the first day with late opening and huge queues to get in. My point is that these problems have not resulted in poor sales the next year. If the line up is good enough people will go no matter what the reputation (or so it appears). I am NOT saying that all the bad things about the festival should be ignored by any means. They should be ashamed of the lack of communication in this day and age. How difficult is it to keep your customers up to date with a quick facebook post or tweet? Ah well, lets hope we get to hear something soon, especially regarding the site location and logistics.

I did exactly the same, but I only get full price tickets. The only thing I can think of is that we bought VIP tickets - not standard. Crazy if they let you spend more money with them and then won't give the same discount. Thanks very much for your help though.

Thanks for helping. I've already tried this, but only got full price tickets for the Sunday. We have booked 4 day VIP tickets, so I'm not sure if that's the problem although it wouldn't make much sense to charge full price to VIP ticket holders but half price to normal ticket holders.

Has anyone got the 5th day ticket for half price thing to work yet? We got our 4 day tickets though Festicket, but it seems just to give us full price when we try and add the 5th day. Not going to get them yet as it means we would have to move flights, but if Springsteen plays we're there! The Spanish are mad for Springsteen, so I can see that day booking out straight away if he's announced.

That's true, but many loos were unuseable and so the queue was often waithing for someone to come out so at least you knew it was in some sort of reasonable state. Like the flag idea though. Toilets were very bad at times, but that was the only negative of an otherwise great festival.