Is There An Oingo Boingo Reunion?
Short answer: no, and the person who would have to agree has explained why not. Here is what was actually said, and what is on sale instead.
Short answer: no, and the person who would have to agree has explained why not. Here is what was actually said, and what is on sale instead.
What was said
In a February 2021 interview he was asked about it and left no room: “There’s not going to be an Oingo Boingo reunion. Orchestras are simply not that loud.”
The remark about orchestras is the key to it. He was describing what had changed for him — in-ear monitors, and the ability to stand in front of a drum kit without further damaging his hearing — and what had not. He has described reaching a point where he never wanted to be on a live rock stage again.
He has returned to performing since, but on those terms. His own touring is a separate project under his own name; it is not Oingo Boingo, and it is not covered or sold here. What he is doing instead.
Nothing has been announced since that contradicts any of this. So when a search result, a listing title or a social post suggests a reunion, treat it as the marketing shorthand it is, and check the billing.
Six names
Four of them ended. One was a rename. The last one is what is printed on the tickets sold today.
A theatrical troupe, not a rock band. It was the source the band grew out of.
The band as most people remember it, from the years when Danny Elfman sang and a horn section stood behind him.
The shortened name. The horns were dropped, and 1994 was the only year the band toured without them.
The farewell run ended on Halloween night at the Universal Amphitheatre, and was released as Farewell.
Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez started it with Elfman’s permission to use the name, after Elfman had decided he would not return.
Original members with a singer who is not Danny Elfman. This is the act on every ticket listed here.
Live inventory
Live listings with current pricing from TicketNetwork’s marketplace. Match the date and the venue against the schedule rather than the event title — no show on sale is an Oingo Boingo reunion, whatever a listing calls it.
The distinction
A reunion would mean the band re-forming, with the singer who fronted it. That is what has been ruled out. What exists instead is a band made up of people who were in Oingo Boingo, playing the catalogue under a name that says exactly that: Oingo Boingo Former Members.
It is not a tribute act in the usual sense either, because the people on stage played on the records. The name was not taken; Elfman gave Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez permission to use it, under the earlier billing Oingo Boingo Dance Party, after deciding he would not return himself.
The honest way to describe a ticket, then: original members of Oingo Boingo playing Oingo Boingo songs, without Danny Elfman. If that is what you want, the dates are here. If what you wanted was the 1995 band, that ended, and it was filmed.
Good to know
Danny Elfman has said no, repeatedly. His stated reason is his hearing: he has described reaching a point where he did not want to be on a live rock stage again. Nothing has been announced that contradicts him.
In a February 2021 interview he said: “There's not going to be an Oingo Boingo reunion. Orchestras are simply not that loud.” He went on to describe in-ear monitors as what changed his ability to perform at all.
A separate act. Original Oingo Boingo players, led by drummer Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez, performing the catalogue with a different singer. It began as Oingo Boingo Dance Party, a name Elfman gave Hernandez permission to use after deciding he would not return.
It is not billed as one, and this site does not describe it as one. It is a band of former members playing the songs. What you get is on the ticket: Oingo Boingo Former Members.