We’re not even streaming it from a stage somewhere.”

Because you gave up trick or treating tonight, and I really appreciate that.”Įven though Elfman has made it clear in interviews (like the one he did with Variety earlier this year for his album “Big Mess”) that he’s not someone who has a need to perform on concert stages, he seemed exultant in the occasion, saying the shows were “making me feel almost like life has returned.” Even after the shows went on sale in the spring, he admitted,” I honestly didn’t think it would happen.

Elfman introduced that encore Sunday as “a little Halloween trick or treat for you. The big band - that is, the orchestra - played on, but Mauceri’s epic crew was joined for “Dead Man” by an actual rock band, in the form of Matt Chamberlain on a drum kit brought out at far stage right, Stu Brooks on bass and, joining Elfman on guitar, fellow ex-Boingo member and longtime Elfman orchestrator Steve Bartek.ĭid this lineup foretell what Elfman might bring to Coachella in April, if he is able to keep the invitation the festival previously issued for him to come out and do his first live rock performances in decades? Perhaps, although Elfman didn’t make any mention of what else they might be assembling for. They were joined for the occasion of the menacing “Kidnap the Sandy Claus” by a pin-striped Elfman, at his most manic.ĭanny Elfman and orchestra at the “Nightmare Before Christmas” concerts at Banc of America Stadium in Los Angeles Samuel LippkeĪfter that exit, the lights remained down, as much of the crowd knew what was coming but some departed, a random test guitar squall indicating that, sure enough, the evening would end with a non-“Nightmare” nightmare: “Dead Man’s Party.” The Oingo Boingo after-life classic was the theme song of the annual Halloween shows Elfman’s former group used to do in the 1980s and ’90s before the group broke up and that tradition got supplanted (in non-annual years) by this one. Reubens, who acted as voice talent for producer Tim Burton in “Nightmare” after playing the lead role in two Pee-Wee Herman movies, put on a red fright wig for the occasion, while Yankovic had what could only be mistaken for one from a distance. (Eilish is not the only avant-pop star to be stricken with Sally Fiona Apple voiced the part on a bonus disc 2006 reissue of the soundtrack album, though she hasn’t yet been coaxed to perform the role live.) Taking the place of original soundtrack singer Catherine O’Hara (who voiced the role on stage the last time the production was mounted, for three nights at the Bowl in 2018), the pop star proved an ideal vocal fit for the heartsick ballad, making it as sweet as it was short - in her hands, a tune that could almost fit in between “When the Party’s Over” and “I Love You,” a couple of equally austere ballads that could have been right up Sally’s alley.

Billie Eilish and Danny Elfman at the “Nightmare Before Christmas” concerts at Banc of California Stadium Samuel LippkeĪlong with the “stitches” on her arms to reflect the lovelorn character’s Frankenstein-ian origins, Eilish wore an original dress that looked like a high-fashion variation on a ragdoll look.

Sally from nightmare before christmas