Legendary former Oingo Boingo frontman-turned-film composer Danny Elfman took to Coachella for a tour-deforce performance this weekend.
Elfman, who at age 68 was the oldest artist playing the usually youth-obsessed Coachella festival told the crowd,
My name’s Danny Elfman, and I’ve got a strange little show for you…
And boy did he ever. According to AOL, he took to
Outdoor Stage in a black T-shirt (which he later shed to reveal an impressively chiseled physique and full torso of tribal tattoos) and cargo shorts, looking like a carrot-topped version of his recent collaborator and rocker/composer successor, Trent Reznor. And it was a very strange, downright bonkers show indeed — but it was far from “little.”
Accompanied by a grand orchestra plus a hard-charging, nu-metallic band that featured Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, Vandals/Devo/Guns N’ Roses/A Perfect Circle drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese, and his longtime screen collaborator and former Boingo bandmate Steve Bartek, the prolific Elfman careened wildly from mood to mood and decade to decade — proving that no one has quite had a career like this redheaded genius.
…Elfman would sweetly, fondly gaze up at the stage’s big screen to watch, along with the rest of the audience, as lovely live orchestral pieces accompanied some of his most iconic film and TV compositions — including the Spider-Man main title; “Breakfast Machine” from his quirky first film score, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure; “Ice Dance/The Grand Finale” from Edward Scissorhands; “Alice’s Theme” from Alice in Wonderland; and the movie theme that truly launched his composing career, from [Tim] Burton’s Batman.
But the crowd-pleasing highlight might have been an unhinged hardcore remake of his enduring Simpsons theme.
Watch.
Nightmare Before Christmas live on stage at #Coachella during Danny Elfman’s set pic.twitter.com/0MlP0tlROX
— Andrew Cunningham🎢🍻🌁 (@GatorAndrew) April 17, 2022
Danny Elfman watching over his masterpiece as it plays (The Original Batman 89’Theme) #Coachella pic.twitter.com/J5Y8XAgoNX
— PCP (@rotator_) April 17, 2022
This is the guy who wrote the Simpsons theme. (and a 100 other iconic bangers)
— Demons Ate My Neighbors! DAMN! (@Watch) April 18, 2022
He just performed it, Nightmare Before Christmas, Spiderman theme w/ an orchestra at Coachella.
At 68. Danny Elfman is a god. pic.twitter.com/drnyDuPkpP
#WhatHeSaid
And in addition to creating some of the most iconic music of the last 40 years (and looking like that at 68) the man is worth $75 million.
(Photo, screen grab; via AOL)
