Outside the Opera House sails were lit, the Bridge was ablaze with graphics and videos and the colourful skyline was pierced by dancing lasers, while inside in the Concert Hall legendary Icelandic rock trio Sigur Rós was putting on a spectacular Vivid lightshow of its own.

Jonsi Birgisson, Sigur Rós, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. Photo © Daniel Boud

Smoke haze wafted around the darkened auditorium as Kjartan Sveinsson’s synthesiser sounded distant opening chords over an electronic background haze, joined by the bass synth of Georg Hólm and the Sydney Symphony’s strings.

Silhouetted by the white overhead lights frontman Jonsi Birgisson’s extraordinary voice, first in its almost whispered lower register then in its trademark ethereal falsetto, floated over the sonic wash for the atmospheric opener Blóðberg (Thyme).

For two nights the Reykjavík band played two majestic sets encapsulating some of their best work from eight albums over three decades, orchestrated by them for this long-awaited world tour. Due to the demand for tickets they agreed to play in the round.

The SSO, led by English conductor, curator and composer Robert Ames, sat amid poles with single domestic globes, while above banks of spotlights...