Oingo Boingo’s Last Concert: Preaching to the Choir

OINGO BOINGO, “Farewell”; A&M; (** 1/2)

The shared loyalty between Oingo Boingo and its fans at the Universal Amphitheatre last Halloween--the band’s last show after 17 years of cultdom--was channeled into such a spirited performance that even some nonbelievers might have been persuaded that there was something to this Los Angeles phenomenon (more than half of this live album’s first-week sales of 5,000 were registered in Southern California).

Unfortunately, you’ll have to take our word for it. This two-disc document of that night will more than satisfy the faithful with its generous helping of Danny Elfman’s cartoonish perversity and his bandmates’ lurching, dense new-wave/ska/rock blends. But it probably won’t make many posthumous converts.

While such KROQ staples as “Little Girls” and the signature “Dead Man’s Party” stand as clever, even rousing creep-show fun, the set is saddled with too many ponderous dissertations on insanity and individuality in the big cold world. And while Elfman holds nothing back in his performance, the way he steps on the end of songs with a “thank you” suggests that he just wanted to get this sayonara over with and get on with his movie career.

If you’re still curious what all the fuss was about, you’ll just have to wait for the reunion.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).