It was a busy day inside singer-songwriter and composer Danny Elfman’s recording studio, which is tucked away among industrial-style warehouses in Los Angeles. He and his band gathered earlier this month to rehearse for the forthcoming back-to-back “From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!” shows scheduled for North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista on Thursday, Aug. 3 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Saturday, Aug. 5.
The show, which was originally created for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio in 2020, had been postponed until Coachella 2022. But it played off well during both weekends of the festival that year, delighting fans who witnessed Elfman take the stage and perform a handful of songs from his band Oingo Boingo, several cuts from his 2021 double album “Big Mess,” and familiar pieces of orchestral music from films he’s scored including “Alice in Wonderland,” “Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
“While I was putting the show together for Coachella I thought, ‘This was the worst idea I’ve ever had in my life,’” Elfman said sitting inside his studio, noting that it’s a huge, fast-moving show with about 50 musicians — including a full rock band, orchestra and choir — who all need to be and stay on the same page for the duration of the set. After receiving such a positive response at Coachella, he decided to do an extended version of that show and bring it to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for two evenings last October. For the pair of upcoming shows, he said the setlist is basically the same as the L.A. gigs, but they’re fleshing out a little extra surprise for those that come out this summer.
The shows will also include two new band members as Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck swaps places with Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland and Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin replaces Josh Freese. Finck was in the original band back in 2020, but was out on tour with NIN when the Coachella shows came around. And Freese left the band to officially join the Foo Fighters earlier this year, following the death of Foo anchor Taylor Hawkins.
“It’s like going from one great player to a different great player and I feel incredibly lucky that these are my choices because they’re all so phenomenal,” Elfman said. The band also includes bassist Stu Brooks (Dub Trio, Lady Gaga) and Israeli-American guitarist Nili Brosh (Dethklok).
As Brooks prepared to rehearse, he said its been a pleasure to get to work on such a multi-faceted show and added that after playing the Coachella and Hollywood Bowl sets, he feels a bit more dialed in but simultaneously “on the edge of disaster at all times.”
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“All the music is iconic,” he said of Elfman’s varied works. “It’s really appealing because as musicians, we’re students of music and we love all different styles of music and to have things flip from one style to another is a challenge and a joy. I mean, I think all of us have that experience in our musical lives that we jump from one thing to the next all the time. That just keeps life interesting.”
Rubin, who had no idea he’d be part of this project when he went out to see both sets at the Hollywood Bowl, said these shows are going to need his full and undivided attention.
“I think we can all say it’s the most diverse show there is,” he said. “I think being a fan of orchestral music and score music, it’s awesome to see the whole thing and be a part of something that’s so elaborate, but it definitely keeps you on your toes because of how diverse it is. It’s a lot of stuff to learn and get comfortable with — or as comfortable as you can get. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m sure we’ve all been in situations with other bands where it all becomes such second nature that you can catch yourself daydreaming a little but, but that would be disaster for these shows.”
As the band has learned Oingo Boingo songs, “Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself),” “Wild Sex (In the Working Class)” and a revamped “Insects,” have become their favorites. Of course, they all grew up on Elfman’s iconic scores and Finck said sometimes he forgets about that aspect until Elfman launches into his Jack Skellington voice from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” during rehearsals.
“Yesterday he wanted to go through the sequence of a couple of numbers and as we were all just kinda in the corner of the room on break, he went through ‘Nightmare’ and I was like ‘Oh, that’s right!,” he said with a laugh.
Elfman said he’s working on some new songs for another project and scoring additional films, including Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel to 1988 movie “Beetlejuice.” That is slated to be released next year and will feature original actors Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara and Wynona Ryder, along with newcomers Jenna Ortega, who played Wednesday Adams in Burton’s “Wednesday” Netflix series, and Italian model and actress Monica Bellucci.
He also said he’s toyed with the idea of touring with a smaller version of the current stage show, returning to his early Oingo Boingo days and sweating it out in a more intimate club setting with just the band.
“Who knows, anything is possible,” he quipped.
Elfman reassured that NIN frontman Trent Reznor, who has also composed music for films such as “Soul,” “Gone Girl” and “The Social Network,” doesn’t need to worry, he’ll return his band members, eventually. Rubin said Reznor is a skilled saxophone player and this entire band agrees that he should come out and rip the sax solo during Elfman’s theme song to “The Simpsons” at these upcoming shows.
“That would be the greatest thing ever,” Brosh laughed at the suggestion.
Since our interview, Rolling Stone published an article on June 19 about Elfman being sued for breach of contract for failing to complete the $830,000 worth of settlement payments due to allegations of sexual harassment by a female composer. Elfman told Rolling Stone that the allegations were “vicious and wholly false” and that “I have done nothing indecent or wrong, and my lawyers stand ready to prove with voluminous evidence that these accusations are false. This is the last I will say on this subject.”
Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!
With: Boy Harsher
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5
Where: FivePoint Amphitheatre, 14800 Chinon, Irvine
Tickets: $39.50-$89.50 at LiveNation.com
Also: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3 at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista. Tickets are $39.50-$129.50 at LiveNation.com.
