While most people know the name Danny Elfman from The Simpsons theme and scores to movies like Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Men In Black, some will recall that he was also the lead singer of the New Wave group Oingo Boingo. (Indeed, true heads may even still call them the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.) As the L.A. Times reported, he opened his unusual set by proclaiming, “My name is Danny Elfman, and I’ve got a strange little show for you,” then led a “punchy rock band” through some “art-punk tunes” before an orchestra played melodies from Spider-Man and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. (Elfman and his family were also reported to be at Coachella’s pop-up Passover seder.)
There was plenty of action off-stage too. Coming off the two-year hiatus, influencers are extremely eager to be seen at the event on social media. (And brands are tripping over themselves to sponsor them.) Earlier in the week, fashion and beauty personality Maryam Ghafarinia lamented to the New York Post that she’s too busy “running around creating content” to see any of the acts. (She’ll make $2,000 per Instagram pic, more for a Reel.)
TMZ on Saturday spotted Olivia Culpo, Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Justine Skye, David Dobrik romping around, as well as plenty of smiling, beautiful faces at various branded activation stations. (Suddenly I desire a cold, refreshing can of Heineken, but I cannot explain why!)
Sunday’s headliner is Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd, who were added to the bill late in the game when Kanye West pulled out. Also appearing is Doja Cat, Run the Jewels, masked country singer Orville Peck, and Chicano Batman. Most of the acts will stream live (for free) across three different YouTube channels. Then the whole thing repeats next weekend.
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