Danny Elfman took the stage at Coachella on Saturday for a festival set unlike any other.
The rare appearance by the legendary composer — which he introduced as a “strange little show” for the crowd — included a plethora of songs from films he’s scored, as he led a full orchestra through highlights from Edward Scissorhands (“Ice Dance/The Grand Finale”) and 1989’s Batman to a medley from The Nightmare Before Christmas (“Jack’s Lament/This is Halloween/What’s This?”) and a rocking version of The Simpsons theme song — by which point he was shirtless.
Elfman also dusted off a number of Oingo Boingo tracks, including “Insects,” “Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself),” “Only a Lad,” “Dead Man’s Party,” and closer “Who Do You Want to Be.”
[cos-videojs id=”1bf498fd0-f0d9-4284-afba-42868d6fab20″ auto_play=true show_playlist=false sticky=true]
Joining on stage was an impressive backing band that included Josh Freese on drums, Stu Brooks on bass, Nili Brosh and Wes Borland (of Limp Bizkit) on guitars, as well a a full orchestra and choir conducted by Oingo Boingo’s Steve Bartek.
The ambitious and inventive set came six months after the four-time Academy Award nominee put on a live-to-film concert version of The Nightmare Before Christmas at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, which coincidentally starred Saturday headliner Billie Eilish as Sally.
Next, Elfman will re-team with longtime collaborator Tim Burton to compose the music for the latter’s upcoming Wednesday Addams-centric Netflix series, Wednesday.
Watch footage of Elfman’s performance and see the full setlist below.
Ed. Note: Head here to find our complete coverage of Coachella 2022.
WHO THOUGHT THE SIMPSONS THEME AT COACHELLA WAS A JOKE??? NEVER UNDERESTIMATE DANNY ELFMAN#coachella pic.twitter.com/HOu2OdbD7I
— главная фанатка Макрона и Разгромов (@VasilySupremacy) April 17, 2022
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 performs “This Is Halloween” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” at #Coachella. (🎥: @jeffmillerla) pic.twitter.com/y7T6j91kCg
— Variety (@Variety) 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
We’ve got Danny Elfman giving the #Coachella crowd a taste of his Batman score tonight pic.twitter.com/6B2T9LedJz
— Ema Sasic (@ema_sasic) April 17, 2022
Can we talk about how cute this Steve bartek and Danny Elfman moment was 😭 pic.twitter.com/dKttnI76mW
— Annihilation💣 (@ANNIHILATIONXXX) April 17, 2022
Setlist:
Sorry
Insects
Spider-Man Main Title
Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)
Just Another Day
Jack’s Lament/This is Halloween/What’s This? (From The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Breakfast Machine (From Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure)
Kick Me
Insanity
The Batman Theme
True
The Simpsons Main Title Theme
Only a Lad
Love in the Time of COVID
Ice Dance/The Grand Finale (From Edward Scissorhands)
Dead Man’s Party
Alice’s Theme (From Alice in Wonderland)
Happy
Who Do You Want to Be
