Mad Cool 2026, Day 4: Matt Berninger, TTSSFU and David Byrne Close Out Madrid
Mad Cool Festival's fourth and final day wrapped up in Madrid on Saturday, July 11, 2026, capping off the festival's 10th-anniversary four-day run. Per NME's reporting, the night's lineup included Matt Berninger, TTSSFU, David Byrne and Pulp, with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds headlining the main stage.
Stage highlights
Matt Berninger took the Orange Stage at 8:55pm. Having previously closed out Mad Cool with The National in 2019, he returned this time under his own name in a mid-bill slot — though the scale of the performance didn't suffer for it. He was already out in the crowd before the opener, "No Love," had even finished, and later introduced "Frozen Oranges" as being "about Donald Trump's balls," even though the lyrics actually capture teenage weekend nostalgia.
The new song "Martini Me Fatso," closer in style to his side project El Vy, was revealed on site to be one of three new songs expected to be released within the following week. "Walking On A String" worked fine without Phoebe Bridgers on hand. Berninger told the crowd The National is "cooking up" new material and that fans would "see them soon." The set closed with "Bonnet Of Pins" and "Inland Ocean" from his solo album Get Sunk. Full setlist:
- "No Love"
- "Frozen Oranges"
- "Martini Me Fatso" (new song)
- "Walking On A String"
- "Nowhere Special"
- "Slow Show"
- "Terrible Love"
- "Bonnet Of Pins"
- "Inland Ocean"
TTSSFU took the Mahou Reserva tent stage at 9:05pm for the band's Mad Cool debut. Frontperson Tasmin Stephens performed barefoot, driving the set with a grunge sound shot through with shoegaze textures. Guitarist Luigi scrambled to fix malfunctioning gear early in the set, and Stephens publicly thanked him from the stage afterward. She dedicated "Baggage" to Jarvis Cocker, who was headlining later that night, then climbed over the barrier during "Studio 54" to dance in the crowd, before closing "I Hope You Die" with two short screams and bolting off stage.
David Byrne closed out the Orange Stage at 12:05am, appearing with his full band dressed head-to-toe in orange to match the stage's name. At 74, Byrne capped the night's Orange Stage bill with more than half a century of art-pop pedigree behind him.
The 10th-anniversary context
Mad Cool 2026 marks the festival's 10th-anniversary edition, with four days of programming held under the Madrid summer heat. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' main-stage headline set is covered in a separate NME review. NME's on-the-ground coverage of the day was jointly written by Jordan Bassett, Rhian Daly, Liberty Dunworth and Andrew Trendell.