Sigur Ros Promise New Material for Intimate Theater Tour

Sigur Rós will hit theaters for the first time in a decade on their upcoming North American tour, which kicks off September 19th in Vancouver and concludes October 14th in Phoenix. The month-long jaunt will find the band performing two sets (separated by an intermission) and without a support act, excluding their September 24th date at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl. This expanded set list will allow the experimental Icelandic trio to road-test new material.

Tickets go on sale Friday, April 8th at noon EST, with the exception of the Hollywood Bowl show. (That date is on sale now for five or more tickets, with single tickets available to purchase May 1st.) More information, including details about an exclusive pre-sale, is available at the band’s website. 

In keeping with the tour’s intimate setting, the 2016 dates will feature the band without the string and brass sections they incorporated on recent concerts. These shows will mark the first time since the tour building up to 2002’s ( ) that Sigur Rós have played new material onstage ahead of recording sessions. The band also plans to attempt “new interpretations of old songs that haven’t been played live in a very long time,” according to a statement. 

“Every time you go on tour you want it to be different … and every time it is, usually because you have a new album you want to play people,” the band writes. “And that can be fun, because you have to work out how to recreate all the complicated stuff you did in the studio for the stage. But there was a time when things were the other way round, when we worked stuff out on the road, and trying to capture lightning in a bottle was a problem for the studio later on.

“This time, in addition to playing songs you know, we wanted to remember the seat-of-your-pants feeling experienced in the wake of ágætis byrjun, when for two years we formed and re-formed the songs that would go on to be the ( ) album live in front of people, night after night,” the statement continues. “All we can say right now is it’s going to be different, with new unreleased songs, a new show and maybe some other new things. Beyond that, we can only ask you to trust us on this one.”

Sigur Rós 2016 North American Tour Dates

September 19 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
September 20 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
September 21 – Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
September 23 – San Diego, CA @ Copley Hall
September 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl (* with support act, TBA)
September 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kingsbury Hall
September 27 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
September 29 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
September 30 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
October 1 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theater
October 3 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
October 5 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
October 6 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
October 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Academy of Music
October 10 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium 
October 12 – Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theatre
October 14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre