Florence and the Machine
Toyota Center
May 5, 2026
To say “a lot has happened” since the last time Florence and the Machine dervished through Houston would be an understatement. That was back in 2018, barely a year after Hurricane Harvey and the first World Series win for the Astros. It was a poignant time, when the city was rebuilding and trash cans were only know for waste disposal.
Cheap shots aside, the world is a different place. Few know this as keenly as Florence Welch. Her latest album with the Machine — Everybody Scream — details her recovery from an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage that required emergency surgery. It also presents a blistering indictment of sexism and misogyny that confronts Welch’s own recent history.
Nowhere was that more apparent than in her opening number, the searing “Everybody Scream,” in which the willing Toyota Center crowd gave in to Welch’s exhortation to do just that. It was a powerful moment that set the emotional tone for the rest of the show.
From the moment she emerged from beneath the walkway floor, smoke clinging her to like fog on the moors, Welch kept the crowd — for lack of a better word — bewitched. And as the night went on, one couldn’t shake the feeling we were witnessing something special. Last night wasn’t just a concert, but an exorcism of sorts.
Unsurprisingly, the latest album dominated last night’s setlist. Welch did a good job mixing in their older tracks. The new “Witch Dance” was followed by a triumphant “Shake It Out” and “Seven Devils.” The latter almost as haunting as it was that stormy October evening in 2012 when I last caught the Machine in concert.
That show, however, lacked the backup dancers I ended up referring to as the “Salem Four.” Predominant during the more sinister first third of the show, they capered like extras from Suspiria, serving as muses (“Witch Dance”), victims (“Daffodil”), and antagonists (“Seven Devils”) for Welch.
She took the first of her offstage trips during “Which Witch,” sadly the only song from 2015’s How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. Welch held court on a standalone downstage platform, belting out “Who’s the heretic now?” and complimenting the audience on singing along with “full chest.”
It was the first of many moments where Welch was clearly moved by the crowd’s response. The “Everybody Scream” tour is, unsurprisingly, meticulously choreographed. But she couldn’t help breaking into smiles during the response to “Cosmic Love” and “Spectrum.” Or maybe it was because the dancers had taken a break.
Next up was “Never Let Me Go” — from Ceremonials, the band’s second album. Welch told us she’d sworn off singing it for almost a decade, because it reminded her of a darker period. Recently moved by how people spoke of what it meant to them — a disquieting number having gotten tattoos of it even — she’s brought it back out for this tour. Now, she said, it’s a reminder of “what we’ve all survived.”
Next up was “Buckle,” another new one. And one Welch introduced with chagrin, noting she should’ve outgrown songs about people not texting her back. It was delivered with enough smiles to make you think she was in a good mood in spite of herself. That was followed by the sparse-until-it-isn’t “King,” which also marked the brief return of the dancers. Shudder.
As I’ve noted before, the driving instrument of the Machine is Welch’s voice, which ranges from mournful to thunderous, often in the space of a single song. But I’d be remiss in not mentioning the Machine, especially harpist Tom Monger. To this day he’s the only harpist I know by name.
Welch closed out the main set with “Sympathy Magic,” the song which most directly addresses her near-death experience (“I no longer try to be good, it didn’t keep me safe like you told me it would”). She walked the barrier, singing “Come on, I can take it” and “What else, what else, what else” to the general admission faithful until the lights went down.
After a brief pause, Welch emerged on the other side of the stage to “One of the Greats.” It was practically a continuation of the previous song, one in which she reasserts herself after having been cast aside: “Do you regret bringing me to life?” Then she rejoined the Machine onstage to sarcastically assert, “How like a woman to profit from her madness,” before giving the audience a knowing wink.
They closed out the encore with “Dog Days Are Over” (if only), “Free,” and “And Love.” That last one fittingly the last track on Everybody Scream. The closing chorus of “peace is coming” simultaneously coming across as an assertion and a plea.
That 2012 show opened with the line, “We are Florence and the Machine. We come from England and we demand sacrifices.” That crowd was certainly willing to comply, but last night was something different. You could see it in the faces of the people Welch sang to and in her reaction to the outpouring of support and affection. I don’t think I’ve been to a show like this before, in which both the audience and the artist truly needed that emotional exchange. It was powerful, and is going to sit with me for a long time indeed.
How Was The Opener? Enthusiastic. CMAT, aka Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, said how happy she was to be in Houston, home of the Queen of Country Music (Beyoncé). And her band was just as goofily spirited as she was. They were an interesting contrast to what was to come.
Personal Bias: Would’ve liked to hear “Third Eye” or “What the Water Gave Me.” After her story about “Never Let Me Go,” I get it.
The Crowd: Stevie Nicks’ grandkids, with just a soupçon of goth.
Random Notebook Dump: “That guitarist in CMAT’s band with the cowboy hat looks like he walked into the wrong show. Never mind: green pants.”
SET LIST
Everybody Scream
Witch Dance
Shake It Out
Seven Devils
Big God
Daffodil
Which Witch
Cosmic Love
Spectrum
Never Let Me Go
Buckle
King
The Old Religion
Howl
Heaven Is Here
Sympathy Magic
ENCORE
One of the Greats
Dog Days Are Over
Free
And Love
