Joe LoDuca is the composer behind the highly underrated The Evil Dead score. His approach to the1981 Sam Raimi-directed project didn’t go for the outlandishly loud, nor did it rely on synthesizers or other sound effects that were to become signature in 80s horror. If anything, it’s surprisingly subdued. Strings stretched out moments of terror when needed, screeches and hints of synth emphasized moments of alarm or imminent danger, and deep percussion conjured up dread whenever the iconic deadites pulled their tricks on a severely freaked out Ash (played by Bruce Campbell). It’s a score that thrives in nuance.
Now audiences can experience LoDuca’s score live in Evil Dead in Concert, a new cinematic music experience that features a live band playing the movie’s score as a newly restored version of it plays on a large HD screen. The concert is going on a 50-city North American tour, kicking things off on September 22nd, 2025, in Buffalo, NY.
Tickets for the show will go on sale on June 13th, through the tour’s official website. For those looking to make their Halloween extra special, the show lineup includes a special three-night engagement in Los Angeles (Oct. 30-31, Nov. 1).
The Evil Dead follows a group of college students that hole up in a cabin deep in the woods for a bit of downtime. They stumble across a tape recorder and a strange dagger while there. As to be expected, the tape is played. Demonic entities rise up from the depths to possess the students immediately after, eager to show them just how evil the dead can be.
By putting the movie’s score at the forefront, fans get to feel the movie in a different manner. In a sense, it’s like being allowed to put your hands into a movie so you can play around with its insides. The sensations the music tries to inspire in the background suddenly hit different. They become more insistent, more violent. For fans, it’s like watching the film for the first time all over again.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity. These kinds of shows create a deeper bond with the movies we already deeply love. It can spark conversations we didn’t even know we could have with them. It speaks to the narrative construction of an audiovisual experience and how important balance is to the final product. If Evil Dead in Concert turns out to be a resounding success, which it looks like it damn well will be, maybe we’ll get another LoDuca score performed live alongside the movie it belongs to: Child’s Play.
