“I wanted to write ‘Mad Cool 10 – 7 – 2022’, but then one wasn’t enough…” Cue a bevy of frisbees being flung into the crowd to squeals of delight. “At one of my first shows I wanted to throw something into the crowd, something I could write on…” Tones tell the audience later, before then explaining that it’s something that she wants to do this time around, too. With the members of her live band all situated at various points of the horror-movie mansion, Tones & I utilises the space: at one point, she emerges up top for a slow-burning rendition of Alphaville’s ‘Forever Young’ that starts quietly before exploding into a tropical-house rave. Looking like something that’s been plucked out of The Nightmare Before Christmas, it’s an intriguing playground for the Australian singer-songwriter’s performance.
SW HALLOWEEN COMES EARLY WITH TONES AND IĪ post shared by TONES AND I entering The Loop at 8:30pm might feel like they’ve suddenly been transported four months into the future for Halloween – but no, it’s just Tones and I’s impressive haunted house-themed stage set. As the track sees Fender’s throaty holler hit a new high, a young fan throws a bouquet towards him – finally giving him his flowers, both literally and figuratively. The supercharged guitar jangle of ‘Seventeen Going Under’ soars high and wide as ever, but it’s ‘Get You Down’ that’s the real showstopper. ‘Howdon Aldi Death Queue’ sounds punky and jagged in this prickly heat, while the bluesy ‘Spit Of You’ blazes along. Not even this unearthly temperature – for the sizable British contingent here, at least – can stop Fender from delivering an electrifying hour of epic anthems, though. “This is the hottest fucking festival I’ve ever played in my life,” he says as his stage manager runs on to offer him a refreshing can of Fanta Lemon – yet, unbelievably, Fender chooses to stick to drinking his flask of tea instead.
After all, the temperature at the main stage is ticking along to an eye-watering 40 degrees as South Shields guitar hero Sam Fender appears, slick with sweat. Credit: Andy Ford for NMEĪ gang of young pals bedecked in Newcastle United shirts, swinging Aperol Spritz tote bags above their heads, are floating across the Mad Cool festival site towards the main stage, while a few metres away, a security guard has started spraying water at them from a hose. KSW SAM FENDER BEATS THE HEAT TO GET HIS FLOWERS She ends with ‘American Woman’ by the Guess Who and a strip tease, completing a set of pure, screaming, IDGAF punk. The New Yorker tells us, after the TikTok-friendly ‘Slumber Party’, about how she recently reconnected with a school friend of 15 years for her “lesbian summer”, before then telling the men in the crowd to “please stand up for your sisters, girlfriends, mothers… and don’t treat bodies like you can put a coin in and fuck us” while laying down some truth on the recent Roe vs.