Recently I’ve noticed at concerts artists will fake leave before their last or last few songs and wait for the audience to clap them back on stage.
Now this was cool back in the day when the sets actually finished and the audience genuinely encouraged performers to come back for some extras but when it’s written into the performance itself it just feels so strange and insincere especially when most people look at the setlist prior and know what songs to expect. Also, a lot of people in the audience aren’t aware of this and are confused on what’s going on.
I just hope this ends, it’s just weird and a bit beggy.
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I’ve been going to concerts almost 50 years, always been this way.
Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy. I saw one band and they explicitly said we’re not doing an encore. This is it for real. And it was.
I guess it’s not that big of a deal though. You dim the lights for maybe a minute to signal everyone their biggest songs are about to be played. This is it. Get ready.
Encore….culture? Excuse me, you’re referring to a thing that’s been a thing for decades as “Encore CULTURE”. There’s no culture around it. it’s just a thing that some bands do.
The reason a lot of bands do it is cause after playing a 19 song set that lasts somewhere between 90 minutes- 2 hours, they need to stop and take a breather before playing for another 15. Gives em a chance to catch their breath before they close out with their bangers
Encore culture has been the same since the dawn of time lol you thinking the audience convinced someone back in the day to come back out is genuinely funny to me. They got you.
> “Now this was cool back in the day when the sets actually finished and the audience genuinely encouraged performers to come back for some extras…”
When was this?
How DARE musicians want to take a few minutes to sit down before playing the last couple.of songs in there set, what fucking slags
I’ve been seeing a shift where a lot of the artists I’ve seen in the past several years basically tell the audience they’re not doing an encore, which I think everyone likes better lol. Either that or they come back almost immediately after leaving instead of waiting a few minutes. So I do feel like the encore thing is trending away
People expect it. If it were to stop now there’d be riots.
>when it’s written into the performance itself it just feels so strange and insincere especially when most people look at the setlist prior and know what songs to expect. Also, a lot of people in the audience aren’t aware of this and are confused on what’s going on.
Most people going to concerts don’t actually look at the setlist prior to know what to expect.
Those that do know to look up the setlist before the show do know what to expect, because they’ve almost certainly been to other concerts (which is why they’re looking up the setlist) and know that encores exist.
Almost nobody is confused by what is going on when the band fake walks off. You can tell, because when the band fake walks off, everyone starts cheering, and almost nobody starts heading for the door.
this thing do not exist.
More is More. Fake or not. But with the stupid price of concerts these days. More bang for your buck is a good thing.
Thank you. I find it so corny. Just play dude, we know you’re coming back
it gives the band a chance to play a cohesive set with the songs they want in the order they want… while also still playing their biggest hit that half the ppl are there for. also its fun, and who cares lol
Professional musician here – it is also quite awkward for us but we are all too far in it now to work out how to stop
I hate encores.
Let us enjoy our adult version of peekaboo!
One more song, one more song… Wooooo!!
Nah I’m always sad when a concert ends. Getting a bonus few songs at the end gives me one big boost of happiness
Fake leave…lol.
Hard disagree
Looking up the set list prior to the show must be a young person thing. I have been going to shows for almost 30 years and have never once looked up the set list. I like the surprise
The last band I saw, Leaves’ Eyes, didn’t have an encore.
I think it’s just an opportunity for the band members to take a bathroom break before the last couple of songs. I get it.
Last show I went to the walked like just out of view off stage and came right back lol whole thing was like 20 seconds
Been that way forever. We all like it. Not going away.
I’m so tired of people labeling thing “insert here culture.”
OP, how old are you if you can remember a time before this was the case? You must be pretty old. As a 50 year old person I don’t know anything else, I assuem most people older than me neither.
>Recently I’ve noticed
no you havent. encores have been the standard at rock shows since the 60s
why not take it a step farther and just say we should get rid of set break? lets just get these guys out here to play for 3+ hours continuously with no breaks. set break and encore break are much needed rests for both band and audience, particularly the longer break in between 1st and 2nd set but also encore break too!
OP, how old are you if you can remember a time before this was the case? You must be pretty old. As a 50 year old person I don’t know anything else, I assuem most people older than me neither.
Either way it’s just really not that big of a deal lol don’t let it bother you, enjoy the music
Recently??? Encores have been a thing for decades lmao.
All good acts encore. I saw Neil Young encore 4 times. Maybe you should just leave before the encore because the rest of us want to see more.
Here in St. Louis we know how to kill mandatory encores. We will yell at touchy performers to play their old hits rather than their new stuff (Smashing Pumpkins) or travel from the seats to the beer stand and back in a non-stop parade (Bob Dylan). The performers can’t wait to wrap it up once they see how it is in the Lou.
You can’t get rid of adult peek a boo
” Also, a lot of people in the audience aren’t aware of this and are confused on what’s going on.”
This isn’t a new trend, encores have been around for at least 50 yrs. Nobody is confused by an encore.
I work at a venue and patrons get very excited for an encore… Id doubt theyd care even if they knew it was preplanned
I’ve joked it’s peekaboo for adults… just like the baby, we are so excited, are they going to come back out from behind the hands again or not… they always do, but will they this, time… omg, yes they did, we are so happy!
We saw the Offspring a couple years back. Phenomenal show. They just played their hearts out, ended the show and turned on the lights. The message was receieved and that was it. Wish more bands would go out like that!
I sorta agree with this, especially since they leave their biggest, most mainstream song til the encore. It’d be better if they left some deepcuts for the encore. Let all the casual fans that came for the big songs go home early and give the diehard fans an old banger that they wouldn’t normally play.
It’s always been like this
As someone who goes to a bunch of concerts, I was thinking about this recently. I don’t hate it.
OP out here wondering ‘what the hell are waiting for’
George Carlin never did encores they asked him why he said something like “I’m not here to jerk anyone off”
I’ve seen one genuine encore in my life, and unsurprisingly it was a song that most of the crowd wouldn’t know. Think about the flow of energy in a live set. You ideally want to end your show with a bang. Or a big statement of some sort.
Also musicians have to pee dude lol. A quick little break before doing that final song with full energy is very necessary.
“recently” 😂
I’m a sound engineer and I run shows every working night of my life.
You will never stop this. Musicians will do this even if no one wants it. It’s basically part of the pageantry of live music.
I was just listening to The Mark Tom and Travis show yesterday and he straight up said something like, “sooo we’re gonna say this is our last song and we’re gonna walk off stage, but we’re gonna come back out and play like 2 more songs. It’s called an encour. That’s just how it goes so now you know”
Thought it was funny how he just said it.
I think the band should come out and say good night before they ever play anything. Then the whole show is an encore and everyone can relax about it now that the awkwardness is over.
Why do you think it was ever authentic?
I think performers would just much rather a planned faux encore than actually having to do an encore.
Back in the day when? 1712?
Upvoted because I disagree and it’s unpopular
Musical edging is definitely nothing new. I’m to that age now, where that time I’m left to scream for more, I’m physically/mentally fried and ready for the door. Even if the show is amazing, at that point I’m like “Dear God, just let me go home now”. I have been to some shows where they say goodnight and I internally cheer when the lights come on. Seriously, thank you for meaning it, lmao
Its definitely cheesy. I was surprised when a band I saw recently straight up said at the end of their set “encores are lame, we will not be doing one but instead just adding two more songs to our set. When we leave the stage please go home”
I’ve been going to concerts for 25 years and its been the same throughout. Its theatre. We know they’re coming back on, they know that we know they’re coming back on… its all part of the fun of seeing live music .
You recently just noticed?
Calm down grandpa
I saw the Foo Fighters once forever ago and when they came back out Dave Grohl said something like “Encores are bullshit they just gives us a chance to take a piss.” Now I think of that when I’m at a show.
It was scripted back in the day too, op
This opinion is indeed terrible. The encore is to give the performers a chance to catch their breath before they come out and perform their biggest hit. The encore ‘break’ allows the audience to get hyped up. Then the performer can play the song that the majority of the crowd is coming to hear and even though they are likely tired that small break gives them a chance to put in that much more energy into the performance, matching the energy of the crowd calling for the encore. That break is a gift to everyone. The performer gets a sip of water and the audience gets the best possible performance.
The crowd wants an encore, the venue wants scheduled ending times. This is the result.
This is what we call a tradition.
‘Recently I’ve noticed’ a thing that been a mainstay in nearly all gig culture for 80 years. Well done, you can now see things.
Yell “encore” after the first song then boo when they say “we weren’t done yet”
If only people actually took the time to think about their thoughts instead of rushing here to post them.
I’ve been to hundreds of rock, metal, jazz concerts in a nearly 40 year span, and can only remember two headliners that didn’t play an encore.
King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard – both times I saw them… changing the culture. 😉
Dio – Dio was interesting, because he said something to the effect of “This is the part of the show when we would leave and you would all yell ‘Dio, Dio’, and we would come back and do an encore. Instead we are just going to play 2 more songs.” (I miss that guy)
You probably dont like after credits scenes either…
“Recently I’ve noticed—”
Were you just not paying attention before? Because this has been the norm forever.
I enjoy when there’s no fake encore. I think momentum and excitement is often lessened by the delay. The lights are still off. We all know what’s going on.
When I saw in the Disturbed in March, they turned the lights on and starting preparing to take a selfie. I bolted for the doors and the people around me thought I was crazy because I was going to miss out on the encore. It turns out there wasn’t one. I’ve never gotten out of the parking lot for an arena show faster.
I get more music I dont care. If they want to act a bit fine by me.
Oh look another encore post. How original
About 10 years ago, I started getting into Jaoanese rock. Most of those bands don’t do this. They just announce “last song” and usually mean it (once in a while, they throw in a bonus song)
I consider it a 5 minute breather for the band before absolutely killing it for the last set!
Unfortunately the best concerts are always the ones where the crowd calls for an encore and the band’s like “We don’t have any more songs!”
I saw Prince live in like 06ish? Concert ended. Applause. Then purple lights started showing. And this huge, purple lit, chandelier began to lower. Smoke on the stage, queue Purple Rain. It was so epic.
Here’s yuja wang’s encore.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pHM52-QR-e0&pp=ygUQeXVqYSB3YWduIGVuY29yZQ%3D%3D
I’ve seen a couple performances in the last few years that didn’t have an encore. It’s pretty great lol
is it really a “culture” if you can only give one example?
Either that or they have to do the opposite and take over the venue for days.
Just saw linkin park with my brother and we just left because we wanted to beat traffic 😆