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‘Final Fantasy’ composer Nobuo Uematsu announces rare US headline show
Music•February 18, 2026 at 10:48 AMNational

‘Final Fantasy’ composer Nobuo Uematsu announces rare US headline show

By Ali Shutler•NME Music News

He’s also bringing his ‘Tiki Show’ to Paris in June The post ‘Final Fantasy’ composer Nobuo Uematsu announces rare US headline show appeared first on NME.

Legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu has announced a pair of rare headline shows in New York and Paris.

Uematsu joined Square Enix in 1984 and has contributed to almost every Final Fantasy soundtrack. He also performed in Final Fantasy supergroup The Black Mages and composed music for the Lord Of Vermillion series, as well as Lords Of Arcana, The Last Story, Terra Wars and many more.

In June, Nobuo Uematsu is set to bring his ‘Tiki Show’ to North America for the very first time. “Led at the keyboard by legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu, this small ensemble performance includes original narrated material alongside new, bespoke musical arrangements of landmark music from the Final Fantasy  games. This program offers a rare opportunity to experience the composer perform his own music in this personal format onstage.”

“We’ve prepared a wide variety of things that aren’t played in ‘Distant Worlds’ – Final Fantasy songs that don’t usually get performed, Final Fantasy vocal tracks, original spoken-word pieces, and some completely absurd songs… so if you’ve got time, please come,” he wrote on X.

Uematsu will perform two shows at New York’s Carnegie Hall on June 14. Tickets are available here.

He’s also set to perform at Paris’ Salle Pleyel on May 9 – tickets are on sale now.

Later this year, ‘The Music Of Square Enix: Magic, Memories And Melodies Tour’ will kick off  at Tokyo’s International Forum Hall A on April 25, 2026 before visiting North America, Europe and Asia. The shows will “celebrate the unforgettable worlds and iconic soundtracks that have defined generations of video game storytelling and adventure,” and feature music from beloved video games Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Legend Of Mana, NieR, Octopath Travelerand more.

Meanwhile, the beloved ‘Final Fantasy Distant Worlds Tour’ is also heading to North America this year. The run of shows will begin March 17 in San Francisco and visit Nashville, New York and Houston before wrapping things up at San Diego’s Rady Shell on July 17. Tickets are available here.

In other news, the second wave of titles heading to Xbox Game Pass this February have been confirmed by Microsoft – and there are some big games to look forward to.

The post ‘Final Fantasy’ composer Nobuo Uematsu announces rare US headline show appeared first on NME.

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