Danny Elfman He doesn’t tour much these days – he’s too busy producing acclaimed movie scores – so some people were no doubt surprised to learn he’d be performing on Sunday night. Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View.

And chief among these people was Elfman himself.

“I can’t believe I’m back,” Elfman commented on a half-dozen selections from his lavish 32-song set at Shoreline to adoring fans. “I can’t believe I’m alive. I mean, (expletive) what? Really?”

Ah, he is alive and how? The Los Angeles native, who turned 71 in May, is still making incredible music. What a rare and precious treat it is to see Elfman, who first rose to fame in the early ’80s as the leader of ska-influenced new wave band Oingo Boingo, work his magic in person. It was one of four shows he performed in 2024 and his first Bay Area date since his one-off performance. Stanford University’s Frost Amphitheater In 2022.

So, make no mistake, this was a big deal. Unfortunately, this particular event did not turn out to be a huge crowd.

Only about 6,000 fans watched Elfman at Shoreline, representing less than a third of the venue’s 22,000-seat capacity. In other words, finding a good spot on Shoreline’s massive fairways was no problem Sunday.

But what stay-at-home folks missed was a retrospective, a tour-de-force career retrospective of one of the truly unique artistic talents of the last half-century, in which Elfman dramatically flexed his musical muscles while showcasing his many different sides.

The show, also held Saturday at Elfman’s home turf, the Hollywood Bowl, was descriptively titled “From Boingo to Batman, The Great Mess and Beyond.”

The Boingo part, of course, was a reference to his former band, known for revamped classics like “Who Do You Want to Be,” “Just a Lad” and “Bizarre Science.”

Batman served as the overall title for the Oscar-nominated soundtrack effort, which also included Tim Burton’s 1988 “Beetlejuice” and 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands,” as well as the Burton-produced/designed “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” (Side note: How is it possible that Elfman has only been “Oscar nominated” but has yet to win his first Academy Award? This sad fact seemed completely inconceivable when we listened to all that great music played live at Shoreline.)

To recap, “Big Mess” is the title of Elfman’s second solo studio album, an industrial rock-style powerhouse released in 2021, and “Beyond” in the equation is where he continues to push the music almost to the fullest. All night long at Shoreline.

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman wears a mask behind his head as the conductor performs on stage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Mountain View, Calif. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman turns towards the orchestra and watches them perform on stage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

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Danny Elfman performs onstage at Shoreline Amphitheater on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mountain View, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

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Each attendee was likely drawn to the show by a particular area of ​​Elfman’s catalogue; most likely movie soundtracks or Boingo cuts. But every aspect of the career has proven to be so powerfully fascinating that I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t enjoy the entire show.

Backed by a large ensemble of musicians, including a full orchestra of strings, woodwinds and woodwinds, Elfman begins just after 8:30 p.m. “Big Mess.” From there, the writhing, one-of-a-dozen Oingo Boingo cuts in the mix He moved on to “Bugs”, the “Nothing to Fear” number. Staying true to the Insect theme, it was a bit obscured in my opinion due to the wide variety of instruments and stage equipment, but the large ensemble of about 40 people on stage led into the “Spider-Man” music.

And this process would continue to repeat throughout the night, and the musicians would indeed live up to the billing as they went “from Boingo to Batman to the Big Mess and Beyond.” The Boingo material definitely got the biggest response from fans; Fans jumped to their feet when Elfman took the stage with “Just Another Day,” “Grey Matter” and other favorites. Still, Boingo didn’t make his cuts in a way that reminded them of the regular studio versions, but — for the most part — roughed them up to fit the “Big Mess” vibe.

The star of the night was cheerful and full of energy as she continued to delight her loyal fans, whom I like to call Elf Men and Elf Women (whether they are actually called that or not). He seemed to truly value the chance to make music on stage. Moreover, he was busy enjoying his favorite season.

“Of course, this is my favorite weekend of the year,” Elfman beamed, citing both Halloween and Dia de Muertos as reasons for this ranking.

Many of the soundtracks include “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands” and the underrated “Mars Attacks!” It was accompanied by clips from actual movies, including. A few other material, such as the “Batman” and “Alice in Wonderland” material, had no actual clips, only vaguely appropriately themed videos instead (perhaps due to copyright issues).

The best moment in terms of the film’s score comes when Elfman replaces vocal duties from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with “Jack’s Lament”/”This Is Halloween”/”What’s This?” It happened again with the mixture. Although his singing voice sounds more like David Bowie these days than the one we remember from Jack Skellington.

At one point during the final innings of this musical whiplash — as Elfman alternates between his solo track “In Time,” Oingo Boingo’s “On the Outside” and material from Burton’s reimagined “Alice in Wonderland” — the star, Song It’s time to apologize to fans for the perceived lack of consistency in its roster.

“I’m sorry that nothing in this series makes sense,” he offered. “But so am I.”

Nearly 6,000 Elf Men and Elf Women would beg to differ when the man of the night wrapped up the main set with the Boingo classic “Dead Man’s Party” — as Oingo bandmate Steve Bartek left the conductor’s podium to play guitar. closer.

“It feels great to be back,” said Elfman, who took off his T-shirt to show off his heavily tattooed chest at the start of the replay.

It was such a good feeling having you back, Danny.

Song list:

1. “I’m sorry”2. “Insects”3. “Spider-Man Main Title”4. “Local Intelligence”5. “Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)”6. “The Breakfast Machine” (from “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”)7. “Another Day”8. “Gray Matter”9. “Jack’s Lament”/”It’s Halloween”/”What Is This?” (From “The Nightmare Before Christmas”)10. “Mars Attacks!”11. “Madness”12. “The Devil Goes Away”13. “Batman” mixed14. “True”15. “Dance with Lemurs”16. “Kick me”17. “Main Titles (Beetlejuice)”18. “The Simpsons Theme”19. “Only a Young Man”20. “In my head”21. “Wednesday Main Headlines”22. “Edward Scissorhands: Main Topics”23. “In time”24. “Lost Monkeys”25. “Outside”26. “Alice’s Theme” (from “Alice in Wonderland”)27. “Isn’t This Life?”28. “Happy”29. “Dead Man’s Party”Encore30. “Who Do You Want to Be?”31. “No one lives forever”32. “Wild Sex (In the Working Class)”