The Vaccines showcased new song ‘Ten Years Too Far’ at this year’s Mad Cool Festival festival last night (July 8) – you can view footage below.
The 2026 edition of the festival, which will run next month until July 11, kicked off at the Iberdrola Music Villaverde site in Madrid, with sets from Foo Fighters, Wolf Alice, The Last Dinner Party and more.
It will see further performances from Pulp, Florence & The Machine, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds during the bash’s 10th anniversary.
The new anthemic track The Vaccines performed had the same frenetic energy as their 2011 debut ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?’ as frontman Justin Young sang: “‘Yes, will I ever feel better?’ / It’s too far, too far, too far / I used to want to be a fast car / And now I wanna be where you are“.
They also played a number of tracks from their debut, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, including ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ and ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ along with further bangers from their back catalogue.
During the set, Young thanked their fans for “making our dreams come true” while reflecting on their debut and hoping their music had helped soundtrack some of the crowd’s lives.
Elsewhere, Hotwax, Moby and Villanelle also performed on the opening night.
Foo Fighers topped the bill and rang out the hits as they smashed through the “band’s bulging back catalogue”.
NME hailed their performance adding: “It’s a timely reminder of Foo Fighters’ place on the Mount Rushmore of rock’n’roll greats. ‘Thank you very much for the last 31 years,’ Dave Grohl pants at the end of this epic set. ‘You’ve made our lives very beautiful.’”
You can check out what to look out for during the biggest sets with NME’s Mad Cool headliner bingo here.
Last year’s festival saw performances from Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan, Nine Inch Nails, Iggy Pop, Alanis Morrisette, Weezer, Thirty Second to Mars, Gracie Abrams, St. Vincent, Justice, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, The Wombats, Jet, Glass Animals and many more.
You can revisit all of NME’s coverage from the 2025 festival with our round-ups of the best moments from day one, day two and day three. You can also check out the performance times for the 2026 edition here.
The Vaccines played:
‘Blow It Up’
‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’
‘Post Break-Up Sex’
‘Wetsuit’
‘A Lack Of Understanding’
‘Nørgaard’
‘All In White’
‘If You Wanna’
‘Ten Years Too Far’
‘Your Love Is My Favourite Band’
‘Headphones Baby’
‘Handsome’
‘Heartbreak Kid’
‘I Can’t Quit’
‘Teenage Icon’
‘I Always Knew’
‘All My Friends Are Falling in Love’
