Farewell - Live from the Universal Amphitheatre

Oingo Boingo’s raucous Halloween concerts were a long-running Los Angeles institution, but by 1995 the party had reached the end of the line. To celebrate the band's retirement from public performance, Boingo had one last Halloween blowout at L.A.'s Universal Amphitheater. Farewell isn't a sad goodbye as much as a rocket-powered romp through a career full of highlights. Though the band had been going hard for 15 years, these performances prove it was still in peak athletic form. And while these songs may have been emblematic of '80s culture, the amped-up renditions of “Controller,” “Burn Me Up," and “Ain’t This the Life” are as meaty and enraged as anything by then-emerging bands like Rancid or The Offspring. In fact, the low-swinging power chords of “I’m So Bad” bring to mind nothing so much as Nirvana circa Nevermind. There’s not a misplaced note in the entire concert, and by the time the band reaches a finale of early hits—from “Grey Matter” to “Only a Lad”—it becomes clear that the show wasn't a farewell but a celebration of a gawky but ingenious sound that persevered against all odds.