José González will play Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, one of only four Canadian stops on his Against the Dying of the Light Tour. Doors open at 8 p.m. for the all-ages show, which finds the Swedish singer-songwriter touring his acclaimed fifth studio album of the same name - his first full collection of original songs in more than four years.
Key details
- Artist: José González, the Gothenburg-based songwriter known for his nylon-string guitar and hushed vocals
- Tour: The Against the Dying of the Light Tour, behind his fifth studio album
- Venue: Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver
- Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2026 - doors 8 p.m., all-ages
- Tickets: Available through Ticketmaster
Full tour dates
José González's fall 2026 North American tour for Against the Dying of the Light runs from September 11 to September 26, 2026, with Gregory Alan Isakov and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra joining him at the September 20 Hollywood Bowl show.
- Sep 11 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS
- Sep 12 - Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
- Sep 13 - Calgary, AB - The Palace Theatre
- Sep 15 - Vancouver, BC - Orpheum Theatre
- Sep 17 - Tucson, AZ - Fox Tucson Theatre
- Sep 18 - Mesa, AZ - Mesa Arts Center
- Sep 19 - San Diego, CA - UCSD Epstein Family Amphitheatre
- Sep 20 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
- Sep 22 - Reno, NV - Artown
- Sep 23 - Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery
- Sep 24 - Sacramento, CA - Channel 24
- Sep 25 - Napa, CA - Uptown Theatre
- Sep 26 - Santa Barbara, CA - UCSB Campbell Hall
A quiet master returns with his biggest questions yet
González has spent two decades turning restraint into a signature. The Gothenburg-born son of Argentine émigrés first reached listeners far beyond Sweden with his 2003 debut, Veneer, and its whispered reading of The Knife's "Heartbeats" - a cover that a widely seen 2005 television commercial pushed onto radio around the world. He has since released the studio albums In Our Nature (2007), Vestiges & Claws (2015) and Local Valley (2021), fronted the trio Junip, and written for the screen, including "Step Out" for the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Through all of it the core has held steady: classical guitar, close vocals, and songs built to reward a quiet room.
Against the Dying of the Light, his fifth solo album, is billed as a sister volume to Local Valley, and it carries the heaviest themes of his career. González, who once studied biochemistry, uses the record to think out loud about humanity's uncertain future - game theory, moral philosophy, and the promise and threat of artificial intelligence. The lead single "A Perfect Storm" takes aim at what many AI researchers call a "race to lose control," building from intimate fingerpicking to a distorted peak, while "Pajarito," a tender Spanish-language song written for his son, shows the lighter side of the same pen. Even the title, which echoes Dylan Thomas's "rage against the dying of the light," frames the album as a plea for attention in an accelerating age.
The Orpheum is an ideal room for music this intimate. The gilded 1927 hall on Granville Street rewards exactly the dynamics González trades in, where a single fingerpicked figure can fill the theatre and a held breath in the crowd becomes part of the arrangement. Vancouver's date is the westernmost of four Canadian shows - after Montreal, Toronto and Calgary - before the tour heads down the United States West Coast. Listeners who know González only from a soundtrack or a playlist tend to leave these concerts converted.
The show is all-ages, with doors at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster, and you can find it alongside the rest of the season on our Vancouver concert calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When is José González playing in Vancouver?
Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at the Orpheum Theatre, with doors at 8 p.m. It is an all-ages show.
Is there a new José González album?
Yes. The tour supports Against the Dying of the Light, his fifth studio album and first collection of original songs in more than four years, following 2021's Local Valley.
How much are tickets and where do I buy them?
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. The Orpheum date is one of only four Canadian stops on the tour, so it is worth booking early.
Scene in the Dark has covered Vancouver's live-music scene since 2010. Find more shows on our concert calendar.
