SICK NEW WORLD: A Chat With The Legendary Danny Elfman!

Danny Elfman Debuts New Song At Sick New World 2024:

With a crowd of 65,000 attendees , Danny Elfman performed for the first time ever a new single called “Monkeys on the loose” in Las Vegas. On stage performing beside him was Robin Finck (NIN and Guns’n’ Roses guitarist), Ilan Rubin (drummer for NIN and Angels & Airwaves) , Stu “Bassie” Brooks, Nili Brosh, Sidney Hopson , an arranged orchestra and choir. The band opened their set with the song “sorry” and played classic hits from Boingo to Batman to Big Mess to Beyond, a balance of Elfman’s work from over his musical career. The very next day I received a surprised phone call/interview as I had questions regarding his performance at Sick New World. During our short 20 minutes call I proceeded the following ;

Ari: “How did you get involved with Sick New World?”

Danny: “The offer was made to me by Sick New World. It was challenging, I thought I was going to end up like Prince when he opened for the Rolling Stones and the crowd threw food at him. I was shocked with how warm the audience was.” 

Ari: “Can you describe the feelings and emotions that you had while you were on stage with these iconic musicians?”

Danny: “They mean so much to me. They are a great family and team. They all have so much talent, they are all so brilliant and I always have total faith with them on stage.” 

Ari: “Where did you get the idea to perform with an orchestra?”

Danny: “I have been working with the orchestra Chamber Punk for several years while doing films. As a young boy I grew up listening to The Beatles -‘A Day In The Life’, ‘I Am The Walrus’ and lots of George Martin. That is where the orchestra inspiration comes from.”

Ari: “What was the process in choosing the set list for Sick New World?”

Danny: “The concept was we only have 1 hour to play. I wanted to divide all of my music how can we balance Boingo, Big Mess , Batman and on top of that play my brand new recording single “monkeys on the loose” which I’m hoping to release a new album late 2024 or early 2025.”

Ari: “Did you have an opportunity to see any of the performances at Sick New World?”

Danny: “I really couldn’t. I have to put myself in a bubble when I play these types of shows. Really I’m just chilling alone. It’s hard because I really thought I was done being on stage you know, it has been about 25 years since I said I was done. It wasn’t until thanks to Covid/lockdown was when I started thinking of these concepts. I approached Paul, who is the promoter for Coachella and I thought this idea didn’t make sense, this wouldn’t work, it makes no sense but it was very gratifying. Although if I were to be able to see bands on the set list it would have been Primus, Alice in Chains, System of a Down, A Perfect Circle and Slipknot . It’s funny because I was talking with Josh Freese about A Perfect Circle’s equipment being stuck in the snow storm in Colorado so they had to rent equipment but I’m sure they were still amazing to see. 

Ari: “Will you be back next year for Sick New World?”

Danny: “I want to, but I don’t know. Right now I have other things going on. I will be doing shows In October in Los Angeles to support the new film Beetlejuice that will be released in September of 2024, but, yes, I would like to go back next year. “

SET LIST FROM SICK NEW WORLD:

1. Sorry
2. Native Intelligence
3. Insects(Oingo Boingo song)
4. True
5. Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself)(Oingo Boingo song)
6. Wednesday Main Titles
7. Grey Matter(Oingo Boingo song)
8. Jack’s Lament / This Is Halloween(“Jack’s Lament” was shortened)
9. Kick Me
10. Monkeys on the Loose(Live debut; Unreleased)
11. The Batman Theme
12. Insanity(Oingo Boingo song)
13. Happy
14. Beetlejuice
15. Dead Man’s Party(Oingo Boingo song)
16. The Simpsons Theme
17. Only a Lad(Oingo Boingo song)
18. Ice Dance / The Grand Finale
19. Who Do You Want to Be(Oingo Boingo song) (Followed by band introductions)
20. No One Lives Forever(Oingo Boingo song)

Over all, the experience was great at Sick New World 2024. The music was great, the weather was great, the food was great and the staff were friendly and wonderful. Can’t wait to go back next year! – A.T.

Photo Credit: NIJMEDDIN COURTESY OF SICK NEW WORLD/ C3 Presents 

SET LIST CREDIT: SetList.FM Songs may not be in exact order as played per the website