Florence Welch has kicked off Florence + The Machine‘s UK and Ireland tour with a rendition of ‘Everybody Scream’ alongside IDLES‘ Mark Bowen – check it out below.
- READ MORE: Florence + The Machine – ‘Everybody Scream’ review: a communal exorcism of familiar pain
After teasing the follow-up to 2022’s ‘Dance Fever’ with a series of eerie videos back in October, the London band released their sixth studio record ‘Everybody Scream’ last Halloween.
In support of the album, the group set out on a tour that kicked off last night (February 6) at Belfast’s SSE Arena, with more dates at London’s O2 Arena set for later in the month.
The opening night of the trek saw a series of hits given a live debut for the first time, with Welch storming through fan favourites and new cuts from the album, including ‘Witch Dance’, ‘Music by Men’, ‘The Old Religion’ and ‘One of the Greats‘.
The latter track saw her joined by Bowen, with whom she co-wrote the track. Upon sharing the record last year, Welch shed light on their shared creative process, saying: “He had this glam rock thing that started out, but then it broke down into this drone discordance that was really shocking, and sounded like a sonic scream.”
Before being joined by Bowen, the night saw Welch give several songs their first live outing in over a decade, playing ‘Seven Devils’ and ‘Which Witch’ for the first time last night.
gente, é o mark bowen que tá tocando guitarra ou eu tô louca 🤔 pic.twitter.com/zMtlnGSi0o
— hope is a dangerous thing 4 a woman like me to hav (@maaaterialgirl) February 7, 2026
florence welch performs ‘witch dance’ for the first time at the sse arena in belfast.
(🎥 via ivo zdravkov) pic.twitter.com/Qb40DAKFur
— florence welch archive (@welcharchive) February 7, 2026
florence + the machine begins the everybody scream tour at the sse arena in belfast with a frighteningly magical entrance!
(🎥 via @love_belfast) pic.twitter.com/hI6qmdCTl9
— florence welch archive (@welcharchive) February 6, 2026
Seeing Florence and the Machine live is a life-changing experience 🤯
She has the most beautiful, ethereal voice and she makes every note look and sound effortless 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/qEd8YzXndk
— Meg #SaveStation19 (@MsMegan91) February 6, 2026
Florence + The Machine played:
‘Everybody Scream’
‘Witch Dance’ (live debut)
‘Shake It Out
‘Seven Devils’ (first time since 2012)
‘Big God’
‘Daffodil
‘Which Witch’ (first time in full since 2016)
‘Cosmic Love
‘Spectrum
‘You Can Have It All’ (live debut)
‘Happy Birthday to You’ (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Hill cover for a fan)
‘Music by Men’ (live debut)
‘Buckle’ (live debut)
‘King’
‘The Old Religion’ (live debut)
‘Howl’
‘Heaven Is Here’
‘Sympathy Magic’
Encore:
‘One of the Greats’ (with Mark Bowen of IDLES)
‘Dog Days Are Over’
‘Free’
‘And Love’ (live debut)
Welch had previously said that ‘One of the Greats’, which Aaron Dessner of The National and Big Red Machine also worked on, could be a “15-year outpouring of frustration” after being “ridiculed and derided for the bigness of my expression” earlier in her career.
The track was named as one of NME‘s 50 Best Songs of 2025. In at Number 15, the entry read: “Florence Welch has made an art out of fusing the mythic with the searingly personal. Over six sprawling minutes, she manages to interrogate her place as ‘One Of The Greats’ with the same wit and swagger that solidifies it: “Must be nice to be a man, and make boring music just because you can”.
She previously revealed that the inspiration for the ‘Everybody Scream’ album came from undergoing lifesaving surgery during the ‘Dance Fever’ tour in 2023.
She has since opened up further about the procedure, revealing that she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilised egg is implanted in a fallopian tube, rather than the uterus. It’s uncommon, happening in only around 1 in 90 pregnancies, per the NHS.
“The closest I came to making life was the closest I came to death,” Welch explained in a recent interview. “And I felt like I had stepped through this door, and it was just full of women, screaming.”
You can find more advice and support around ectopic pregnancy here.
Around that same time, Welch had said that exploring spiritual mysticism and folk horror helped inspire the album – understanding the limits of her body and questioning what it meant to be “healed”. Other themes tackled include the exploration of womanhood, partnership, ageing and dying.
NME gave the record a full five stars, with Laura Molloy writing: “There’s no easy, radio-friendly hit here, nor a euphoric finale, with the album instead departing on a small exhale. “The gift of going through something awful is that you can embrace someone who’s been through it too,” Welch said in a recent interview.
“Album closer ‘And Love’, then, is her final embrace, fluttering away in a haze of classic Florence + The Machine harp and distant murmurs of “peace is coming”. It’s a succinct and surprising end to a tempestuous record, one that stays with you longer than the rage and anguish which, here, is as fleeting, yet deeply magical, as the changing seasons.”
You can find any remaining tickets to the UK tour here. The band are also set to perform some North American tour dates for 2026, with support coming from Rachel Chinouriri, SOFIA ISELLA, CMAT and Mannequin Pussy. Tickets for those date are available here.
