This paper deals with the dynamics of a cyclic system, representative of a bladed-disk subjected to dry friction forces, and exhibiting structural mistuning. The nonlinear complex modes are computed by solving the eigenproblem associated to the free response of the whole structure, and are then used to better understand the forced response to a traveling wave excitation. Similarly to the underlying linear system, the tuned model possesses pairs of modes that can be linearly combined to form traveling waves, unlike those of the mistuned structure. However, due to the nonlinearity, the modal properties are not constant but vary with the vibration amplitude in both cases. A qualitative analysis is also performed to assess the impact of the mistuning magnitude on the response, and suggests that further statistical investigations could be of great interest for the design of bladed disks, in terms of vibration mitigation and robustness.