Nick Soto

Grammy-Award winning composer, songwriter and musician Danny Elfman treated concertgoers at Central Park SummerStage to a special performance on Sept. 15, featuring a selection of seasonal Oingo Boingo classics, unreleased tracks, and hit TV and film themes performed by a live orchestra and choir.

Elfman still sounds great for the ripe old age of 73. Backed by an all-star lineup of musicians including guitarist Robin Finck and drummer Josh Freese of Nine Inch Nails, bassist Matt McJunkins of A Perfect Circle, guitarist Nili Brosh, pianist Irene Kim and percussionist Dorothy Micklea, he was prepared to pull out all the stops for his first New York City performance in more than 20 years.

The performance featured a veritable “best of” collection of Elfman’s most iconic music over the last five decades — from Oingo Boingo’s self-distributed 10-inch demo to his critically acclaimed 2021 studio album, Big Mess.

As an added bonus, he also gave fans a sneak peak at his forthcoming solo album with a performance of his still yet-to-be released single, “Sayonara.”

Of course, with Halloween just around the corner, it was the perfect time to break out fan favorites like “Dead Man’s Party” and “No One Lives Forever.”

Elfman even threw on Jack Skellington’s signature black pinstriped suit for his performance of “This is Halloween” from the Tim Burton film Nightmare Before Christmas.

The accompanying orchestra and chorus sections chimed in throughout the evening with renditions of Elfman’s most memorable work in TV and film, including the themes to Spider-Man, The Simpsons, Batman, Wednesday and Beetlejuice.

Setlist: Sorry, Insects (Big Mess version), Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)**, Native Intelligence, Spider-Man Main Title, True, Sayonara, Monkeys on the Loose, Wednesday Main Titles, This is Halloween, Dance with the Lemurs, In My Head, Happy, Beetlejuice Theme, The River of Life, Upside Down, Kick Me, The Simpsons Theme>Only A Lad,** Dead Man’s Party**, Batman Theme>Ain’t This the Life**, No One Lives Forever**

Encore: Who Do You Want To Be**, Just Another Day**

**Oingo Boingo cover