Refused have played their final show. Watch footage below.
READ MORE: Refused tell us about their final tour, winning over fans from ‘The Bear’ and the future of hardcore
The Swedish hardcore punk outfit played their final-ever live show in their hometown of Umeå on Sunday (December 21), following a recent run of last dates in the UK and Europe.
To mark the end of their 31-year career, the band played a 21-song set, which was livestreamed worldwide.
The setlist sailed through their biggest hits, and ended on ‘New Noise’ from their 1998 album ‘The Shape of Punk to Come’, which you can find a clip of below.
Post-show, frontman Dennis Lyxzén posted: “The weekend is over, and it’s been overwhelming to say the least. I need a couple of days to process everything and I will post more on the matter.
“But for now: thanks to everyone that came to the shows, or watch the live stream or just made all of this possible. I love you all,” he continued. “Refused is dead. Long live Refused.”
Refused’s final setlist was:
‘Circle Pit’
‘The Shape Of Punk To Come’
‘The Refused Party Program’
‘Rather Be Dead’
‘Malfire’
‘Liberation Frequency’
‘Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine’
‘The Deadly Rhythm’
‘Re-Fused’
‘I Wish’
‘Hate Breeds Hate’
‘Pretty Face’
‘Life Support Addiction’
‘Coup D’état’
‘Refused Are Fucking Dead’
‘Elektra’
‘Worms Of The Senses/faculties Of The Skull’
Encore:
‘Burn It’
‘Everlasting“’
‘Pump The Brakes’
‘New Noise’
Now that Refused is over, members of the band have launched a new project, Backengrillen, and announced their self-titled debut album, which will be released on January 23, 2026 via Svart Records (pre-order here).
The experimental project features three out of four Refused members (singer Dennis Lyxzén, bassist Magnus Flagge and drummer David Sandström), as well as the non-Refused saxophonist Mats Gustafsson.
“Backengrillen’s music is a paean to chaos and destruction,” the band explained in a statement. “The basic idea is to take a death/doom metal, or noiserock riff and play it until it loses meaning and then break it apart like a ravenous cat would a tiny forest mouse.”
They went on to describe the LP as being “filled to the brim with the self-hatred endemic to the province of Västerbotten from whence the members hail”.
Sandström had previously explained that the members wanted to be in “a band with no baggage, no fans to please, limited only by our wildest musical hopes and dreams”, adding: “We’re very excited about getting around to taming this new wild beast.”
Backengrillen previously played live together in early 2023.
Speaking to NME at Mad Cool 2025 this summer, Sandström explained: “We have other plans for our future, and Refused doesn’t fit in there.”
Lyxzén elaborated: “What we’re doing with Refused is very physical and quite demanding. I already feel like it’s pushing it. In 10 years, I’ll be 62, and that’s not a good look to try and prance around in tight pants.”
The band also discussed the future of the hardcore scene, and how featuring on The Bear’s soundtrack had won them some new fans. Watch the video interview in full above.
The post Watch Refused play farewell show and end on a high with ‘New Noise’ appeared first on NME.
