Rosalía ends the Lux Tour in Miami as the high priestess of avant-garde pop

It was in Miami, a land of mirages, magic and more vice than faith, that Rosalía staged the final stop of the Lux Tour, the tour that has cemented her status as pop’s most avant-garde star. Less than a year after descending on the streets of Madrid as a modern-day saint, dressed head to toe in white and crowned with a bleached halo to unveil her most ambitious work yet, the Spanish singer brought a global pilgrimage to a close with one last appearance and one more triumph: seven Latin Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.

Streams of concertgoers clad almost exclusively in black or white seemed to offer an instant way of sorting the souls filing into Miami’s Kaseya Center on Wednesday night: those in black leaned more Berghain, those in white more Divinize. Lace was everywhere. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, former punks, and every shade of fluidity in between. The occasional attendee carried a red flag, like a self-imposed scarlet letter emblazoned on a T-shirt. Some spoke Spanish, others English. Together they formed one of the most eclectic crowds imaginable in a city that is usually fragmented into separate worlds.

Everyone found their place with ease, though a few lingered around the Calvin Klein stand, where visitors could sample fragments of Rosalía’s essence: “solar, magnetic or bold.” Worn like a relic and tied to the wrist with a ribbon, the fragrance was a reminder that the virtuoso singer has become a cultural presence well beyond music. Rosalía is also an actress and a friend of Alexa Demie. Just days earlier, the two were seen laughing together in the colorful stands of the U.S. Open, where Rosalía was later photographed kissing her girlfriend, the French model Loli Bahia. “Solar, magnetic AND bold.” “A toast to the bizcochito,” a group cheered before taking their seats. In Miami, Rosalía also showed off her star-studded circle of friends, bringing The Bear star Ayo Edebiri onstage.

The Lux Tour pilgrimage has transformed not only the global pop landscape but also the artist herself in full view of the public. It began in France in March, with a theatrical production, lavish musical staging and a symbolic complexity that sparked renewed interest in art and ballet. In Spain, it coincided with Easter Week. In Latin America, it collided with the region’s passion for football and survived a social media storm sparked by Rosalía’s repost of a video celebrating Spain’s victory over Argentina, a gesture that briefly rattled the devotion of some of her South American fans.

By the time the tour reached its rescheduled second U.S. leg, postponed because of a family emergency, Rosalía had already gathered a congregation of her own: Canadian poet Anne Carson writing what amounted to her gospel; admirers such as Patti Smith and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber; and converts including Karol G, Chappell Roan and La Joaqui, who all passed through her confessional. Meanwhile, countless renditions of La Perla, sung like feminist hymns, flooded the internet.

Rosalía took the stage in Florida to the sound of Sexo, Violencia y Llantas just hours after becoming one of the most nominated artists for the upcoming Latin Grammy Awards. Goosebumps and tearful eyes greeted a sublime opening that flowed into Reliquia, while a couple who had travelled from Vancouver shouted, “Holy shit!” And it was hard not to wonder: how can the Motomami singer also be this delicate, porcelain-skinned dancer, gliding on tiptoe over a thunderous techno bassline?

On Lux, Rosalía inhabits and expands the feared and celebrated spectrum of femininity. Its full creative and destructive power. She blends mystery with seemingly contrasting yet harmonious layers, much like her music itself. There is flirtatiousness in her rendition of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You; shadowy sensuality in Berghain and LA COMBI VERSACE; and the earthy force that has carried her from Motomami to the sacred mysticism of Lux.

No matter how many clips you’ve seen online of that circular set piece formed by white gloves or the lyrical refrain of Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti: if you didn’t see it live, you missed out. In Miami, Rosalía also revealed that the song, perhaps the most sublime moment of the show, was written while gazing out at the waters of this sensual city. It was a reminder that even the darkest places can inspire the brightest reflections on what one porta sempre, always carries within oneself, such as faith. Nearby, someone dabbed away tears with a sweater sleeve.

But Rosalía is no saint. And she descended into darkness full of sadomasochistic and pagan references, admitting she knew Miami had come “to make that ass move,” the same one she shook each night clad in an intense pink panty that complemented her black Dior outfit. The Kaseya woke from ecstasy into another form of Latin communion: perreo. With songs like SAOKO, BIZCOCHITO and DESPECHÁ.

The most personal moment of the night came with Rosalía’s farewell to this era. Her great era. Few know better than she does that she has reached a summit. “I’m saying goodbye to this show, but this show has allowed me to grow as a performer,” she said, her face wet with tears as applause washed over her. Her words summoned flashback images of the young artist who burst onto the scene in 2019, arms raised defiantly, weaving flamenco movements into global reggaeton hits such as Con Altura alongside J Balvin.

“Thank you, Miami. I love you all very much!” she said through tears, and it was clear she was also saying goodbye to Paris, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Chicago and every other city she had transformed, if only for a night, into a sanctuary of avant-garde pop.

Since its release, Lux had raised questions about how such an ambitious work — spanning opera, orchestral and electronic sounds, flamenco handclaps and even ranchera — could be brought to the stage. Rosalía, together with the orchestra conducted by Cuban Yudania Gómez Heredia and a production choreographed down to the last detail by the French collective (LA)HORDE, set a new standard for pop entertainment and the classical world. Anything is possible. Or rather: the classical can be pop.

Miami was the last chance for the true believers and the first for skeptics who failed to realize their luck in securing a ticket to history for $40 at the last minute. “Masterpiece of a show,” said a Cuban-American photographer who had bought his ticket that very morning. “The ticket should have cost more,” he admitted, as if confessing a sin. That seemed to be the final confirmation of Lux’s promise: Rosalía had inspired something beyond admiration. She had inspired devotion.

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