Sigur Rós' Orchestral Tour Visiting Adrienne Arsht Center in Fall

Two years ago, Iceland's most celebrated musician, Björk, finally visited Miami with an unconventional orchestral performance at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The pop star belted out her famous tunes such as "Hyperballad" and "Bachelorette," enchanting the audience with a "mesmerizing stripped-back set," according to New Times' review of the first night.

Following up on their countrywoman's success, fellow Icelanders from the band Sigur Rós have decided to offer their take on the format. Having made orchestral accompaniment a standard of its tours since 2022, the band has announced a new round of shows at theaters and performing arts centers in eight cities, including Miami. The band will stop at the Arsht Center, accompanied by New York-based, 41-piece ensemble Wordless Music Orchestra, on Monday, September 30.

Fronted by singer-guitarist Jónsi, Sigur Rós is best known for a certain strain of ethereal, dreamlike rock music utilizing strings, bowed guitar, falsetto vocals, and lyrics sung in Icelandic or, in the case of their album ( ), an improvisational gibberish-language called Vonlenska ("Hopelandic"). The band initially came to the world's attention with its 1999 record Ágætis byrjun (A Good Beginning), hyped by a very strong 9.4 review in Pitchfork. Later, the 2005 single "Hoppípola" became a massive hit, soundtracking dozens of film and TV trailers throughout the mid-2000s: Planet Earth, Children of Men, Slumdog Millionaire — the list goes on. The song's opening piano notes are instantly recognizable.

Although the band's music, redolent with long track lengths and symphonic strings, was frequently lumped in with much louder bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky as part of a broad post-rock movement, Sigur Rós didn't really fit in with those acts. They're more ambient rock, with a softer sound that retains post-rock's obsession with orchestral crescendos and dynamic changes. They've changed up their sound occasionally. "Ísjaki," off the 2013 record Kveikur, has more of a straight rock sound; they appeared on HBO's Game of Thrones around that time and covered the infamous song "The Rains of Castamere" from the show. Following several controversies, including a tax evasion case (later dismissed) and one member leaving the band after a sexual assault accusation, the band's latest record, last year's Átta, gets back to basics, featuring minimal arrangements and more orchestration.
Amazingly, Sigur Rós hasn't performed in Miami for more than ten years. The band's last performance here was in 2013 at Bayfront Park Amphitheater (currently known as FPL Solar Amphitheater), which concluded the Kveikur Tour and featured opener Juliana Barwick.

Tickets for this show go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 8, via the band's website. Find all the dates below.

September 19 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral Theatre
September 21 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
September 23 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
September 25 – Washington DC – Anthem
September 28 – Durham, NC – DPAC
September 30 – Miami, FL – Adrienne Arsht Center
October 2 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
October 4 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall

Sigur Rós. With Wordless Music Orchestra. Monday, September 30, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-949-6722; arshtcenter.org. Tickets on sale 10 a.m. Friday, March 8, via sigurros.com.