Why Do We Still Bother With Encores?

[Fool No Where]

Article from the Dallas Observer. He makes some good points. None the less, I still want an encore even if it's completely obvious that no one wants to hear you play.

[Smitty]

Ritual/

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Todd 11 minutes ago

Ya'll need to check out a Drive-By Trucker rawk show. No setlist, one of the three singers plays whatever they feel fits at that particular moment. A bottle of Jack gets passed around on stage. If you're down front, they might even share with you. Some of you old fornicators may want to say home as the encores can go upward of 45 minutes, depending how on fire the crowd is.

[Fool No Where]

Fixed it for you

Ritual De Lo Habitual

[Flea]

I agree with the majority of his points, but this has been SOP for most acts for at least 30 years. Not likely to change.

[Iowan]

Can you imagine how pissed people would be if there was no encore?

I remember the first time I went to an all ages club show. The band played for 90 minutes, and then left. I was expecting an encore, and kept thinking to myself "what the fuck is this shit?". Because of this, I avoid all ages club shows like the plague.

[Clams]

Ritual/

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Todd 11 minutes ago

Ya'll need to check out a Drive-By Trucker rawk show. No setlist, one of the three singers plays whatever they feel fits at that particular moment. A bottle of Jack gets passed around on stage. If you're down front, they might even share with you. Some of you old fornicators may want to say home as the encores can go upward of 45 minutes, depending how on fire the crowd is.

sounds like Bovine wrote that.

[Fool No Where]

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Todd 11 minutes ago

Ya'll need to check out a Drive-By Trucker rawk show. No setlist, one of the three singers plays whatever they feel fits at that particular moment. A bottle of Jack gets passed around on stage. If you're down front, they might even share with you. Some of you old fornicators may want to say home as the encores can go upward of 45 minutes, depending how on fire the crowd is.

sounds like Bovine wrote that.

Doubtful, I'm pretty sure I know that Todd character. Class A douche if I ever met one.

[Duke Silver]

I dunno, seems like much ado about nothing. Most bands nowadays treat them like what they are: set breaks. The encore still exists. Last time I saw Isbell, enough people stuck around making noise that he came back out for one more, unplanned.

[Zip City]

I saw Jason play an encore after the houselights were turned on and the post-show music was on

I love the Band of Horses take on encores: Ben always says "Here's the last song before we pretend the show is over then come back to play two more."

[beantownbubba]

What a strange time for this article. It's been about 30 years, maybe a little more, since the encore became "institutionalized". I've always regretted it, because it truly was exciting when a performer played a "real" encore, but like i said, why now?

Some encore notes:

You always knew springsteen would play an encore, the question was how many. The most i ever saw was 4. That was also the greatest rock concert i ever saw. Whether he played more was always a mix of how into it the crowd was how into it he was. If he wanted to play more, he would even if the cheers didn't really "justify" it. In his case it wasn't what that writer described at all though - some obligatory charade, it was simply the Boss's love of what he did.

The Who virtually never played an encore and there was something strangely satisfying about how they left the crowd crazed and wanting more - those post finale cheers could make your ears ring more than the music, lol. If ever a band earned an encore it was the Who on nites when they were on, so it was sort of an alternative universe but it worked for them and it allowed them to pace the show they wanted to and leave it all on the stage.

When I saw Levon Helm & The RCO All Stars on New Year's Eve many years ago, they stopped playing at about 11:30. Everyone thought they were taking a break and would of course come back to ring the new year in. But no, that was actually the show. But since nobody realized it, nobody was clapping or cheering and after a couple of minutes the band sheepishly walked back on stage for a brief encore. It was a very weird, incredibly disappointing scene. The live album from the show is very good tho - the band was great that nite, they just had zero sense of showmanship/entertainment value.

[oxfordcrowe]

Yawn..... I didn't make it to page two. I can kind of see where he's coming from, but I'm a big Black Crowes guy — certainly not the same type of show as Lady Gaga — and they always have mixed it up quite a bit for the encore. Most of the time really good, and sometimes really bad. A great killer to a rocking show is "Thick and Thin," especially when you get it for three straight shows you attend. Anywho, they generally give a pretty good mix for the encores, and stay away from their hits, which is awesome. They generally do a couple of really good covers, so I can't totally agree with this guys' assessment of band's coming out to only play the hits. The first time I ever heard "Don't Do It," "Oh Sweet Nuthin!" and "Poor Elijah (A tribute to Robert Johnson)," were all at Crowes' shows as encores. So their is a reason to bother with encores.... give people something they haven't heard.

[lajakesdad]

The encore break is for the band to take a piss, get a drink and have a smoke.

[sactochris]

This is yet another area where I am 100% content to let the artist decide how they want to present their music. Play your set and that's it, with no encore, like TCG, That's fine. Come out and do the classic one more number for the road, Dead style, and I'm ok with that as well. Come back out and do 4, 5, or even 6 more songs like DBT, that's awesome. Play you main set and then return to the stage 2, or sometimes even 3 times to play yet another 2 or 3 songs each time, like how Wilco used to do it, back when they were still a rock n roll band, and that works for me also. I'm just happy to be at the gig hearing some live music and quaffing a few overpriced beers.

[lost-johnny]

The encore break is for the band to take a piss, get a drink and have a smoke.

Ditto the audience - far more worthy of attack are pointless drum solos. Apart from Peart.

[littlemamma]

Todd sounds like some rock show douche i'd hang out with...
I read that article. Who gives a shit about why they still do em? It's still better than sitting at home with your thumb up your ass spilling whiskey on a 400 dollar couch. So what if I stood around for 3 hours to see 2 bands I kinda liked and one I love? What's 20 more minutes while my favorite band packs a bowl, takes a piss, and maybe gets prospects for boobs or a bj later. Like I give a shit?

[mhc]

I loved when the Grateful Dead did encores, especially when Bobby would close the second set and Jerry would send you to the parking lot, with a Dylan classic or a tear jerker like Brokedown Palace

[sactochris]

I loved when the Grateful Dead did encores, especially when Bobby would close the second set and Jerry would send you to the parking lot, with a Dylan classic or a tear jerker like Brokedown Palace

I liked how you knew that If you had gotten more than a one song encore that It had been a very special show.

[RevMatt]

It is a ritual, but encores are something I like. It gives the band a brief break -- smoke a cigarette, catch their breath -- and the opportunity to end the show with another climactic moment.

In the seventies, a band would play most of the songs on an album they were touring behind. The encore was a good opportunity to play a few of the old favorites that didn't get played during the set. Today, bands only play a couple songs from their current albums. I don't like this practice. It not only communicates to the audience that they don't really like the new songs but it also negates one of the purposes of the encore.

[Flea]

What's 20 more minutes while my favorite band packs a bowl, takes a piss, and maybe gets prospects for boobs or a bj later. Like I give a shit?

I like the way you talk, mmm hmmm.