Nothing But Thieves - The Stray Dogs World Tour

When a band returns to the place where it all began, it can quickly sound like a cliché in the pop music business. For the five musicians of Nothing But Thieves, however, returning to Angelic Studios—a converted barn in Banbury, England—was a purely pragmatic decision. This is where they recorded their debut album over a decade ago. Back then, they were in their early twenties and felt like lottery winners. “We thought this would be our first and last record, so we’d just enjoy the ride,” recalls guitarist Dominic Craik.

Today, four Top 10 albums and one UK number one later, the band led by singer Conor Mason is a global rock powerhouse. The path to that point led primarily through the world’s concert halls. Live shows and extensive tours are the foundation upon which the group’s success rests. Anyone who has ever experienced thousands of fans singing along to every line in sold-out venues like London’s Wembley Arena or the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam understands the power of this collective. On tour, the band grew into a unit that knows exactly how to harness the raw energy of a live show.

They wanted to harness that maturity in the studio. After the futuristic, tightly conceived 2023 album “Dead Club City,” the musicians longed for the opposite. “We wanted to write something that’s a bit rawer, more organic, and more chaotic,” explains guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown. The new single “Evolution” captures exactly that feeling. The song is based on the dynamics that otherwise define their concerts: a stripped-down, driving guitar riff opens the track before Mason’s distinctive voice kicks in and the track breaks through a massive wall of sound. Lyrically, Mason looks back on their beginnings in their hometown of Southend-on-Sea and the local live club Chinnerys.

Despite the commercial pressure that comes with billions of streams and platinum awards, Nothing But Thieves maintain their independence. “We’ve always been like kids when it comes to making music,” says Conor Mason. “It’s all about how it feels to us. You can’t write songs just to sell shit.” In the end, it’s all about the real moments on stage and the connection with the audience. Anyone who wants to experience this energy live will soon have the chance. Following festival shows this summer, a performance at the renowned “BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend,” and concerts with Biffy Clyro, the quintet is finally returning to Germany in January 2027. The British band will stop in Cologne, Munich, Ludwigsburg, Berlin, and Hamburg for a total of five shows.