Saw Shania Twain in concert last night (free tickets). It was mildly entertaining, especially for Mr. Pundit who didn’t even pretend he was there for any other reason than to stare at her. Anywho, after an hour and a half or so, she sang “I’m Outta Here” and then she and the band all waved and said “Thanks and good night, Cincinnati!” And off they went.
And thus began the charade that has become a familiar routine at concerts today: the freaking planned encore. You know the kind, where they don’t even bother to put on the house lights. Where you knew she was coming back out because she’d only been on stage for an hour and a half. Where you know the band was just biding their time for the obligatory three minutes and thirty seconds before walking back out to play the song that everyone knew was going to be played because it was so glaringly absent from the playlist (in this case, “I Feel Like a Woman.”?)
I mean, what is the point of a planned encore? It renders it meaningless to both parties. Back in the days of real bands, an encore was not a given. It was earned, by both the band AND the audience. Sometimes they happened; more often than not they didn’t. The fun was in not knowing.
It’s so bad that the roadies don’t even bother coming out to pretend to dismantle the instruments anymore. :rolleyes:
Yeah, I think it’s monstrously lame too (the encores, not the pitting) and huuuuge time waster for all involved. I don’t even bother to clap anymore unless it’s a band I really like. It’s always amusing when you see a show that totally sucked, the applause is half-hearted and the band comes back on anyway…
Seeing Cowboy Mouth at the Niteclub 9:30 once and they actually got an encore (something they don’t normally do). They came back out and said 'Um…we don’t have anything planned because we don’t normally do encores. But Paul thinks he can do some folk stuff. The rest of us will play along somehow."
I couldn’t disagree more. Yeah, it’s lame to pretend that it’s the end of the show, but it’s a tradition. (“Rock Concert Movement #78”, according to the Blue Man Group.) Those few minutes are an ingrained signal for the audience to turn up the energy level, so the band can come back on and go out with a bang.
I’ll also never forget being near the front of a crowded Phish show on a beautiful July night, and turning around to what looked like a million lighters against the black Indiana sky.
So yeah, it’s a waste of time, just like most traditions, but it’s not one I’m ready to abandon just yet.
I always view it as a chance to have a breather for the performers. Toilet stop, drink stop, sit down, and then come out with a bang - almost like a mini concert start.
It’s also a bit of quality/time control - when you are doing night after night of concerts - limiting the time in this way must be a blessing for some. If you don’t know how many encores you’re going to do, the time can creep on.
I do remember the days when the crowd would chant and carry on to see if the performers would come back on - I remember a few times when they didn’t!
The word I would’ve used is embarrassing but yea, I agree :).
I also agree with the OP. The band and the crowd both have to earn the encore. It shouldn’t be a given.
I love em. Sure, it’s an act, but the whole freakin’ show is an act. They probably don’t care they’re in Cleveland/whatever. They probably are sick to death of playing their hits and pretending to be enthusiastic about em. Whatever!
My favorite encore was at a Smashing Pumpkins show a while back. They came out, did the encore, all the “OMGGOTTALEAVEEARLY!!!” morons left, then they came back out and said, “Now that all the MTV people have left, we’ll play a little more” and played for another hour or so.
As Jonathan Chance points out, “real” encores still happen, particularly at special shows and with smaller bands who have a particuarly good audience or who are having a particularly good night. So they can still “earn” it, but the bar is set pretty high.
I’m surprised anyone at a Cowboy Mouth show had the energy to go on with an encore. I was completely worn out by the end of their regular set! (That’s a good thing.)
As an aside to the OP–have they finally settled on US Bank Arena for a while? Formerly the Firstar Center, formerly the Crown, formerly Riverfront Coliseum, formerly Riverfront “Cougar” Coliseum…by the time I moved from Lexington, it was just “the one in Cincinnati next to the stadium”. And how has Riverbend still avoided some horrible, generic corporate moniker? I figured it would be another Verizon Wireless Music Center by now…
I get relatively annoyed at this practice, too, especially when I don’t particularly enjoy the set, but I understand having a planned encore in many cases.
When my band first started playing bars, we never had an encore prepared, but the drunken public was always screaming for more. To tell the truth, we didn’t have to earn it; people scream encore even when the music sucks. In subsequent shows, we knew to have an encore ready because the people always ask for one and it seems the bar owners are always happy to let you play longer.
I saw A Perfect Circle about three years ago and they refused to do encores. They just said that they’d play everything they had all at once and then when it was over, it was over. I liked that - I also wouldn’t mind if a band just honestly said, “We’re going to take a quick break, we’ll be back.”
Maynard actually talked to the crowd? I’ve had friends at Tool concerts where he didn’t even show himself to the crowd. He stood behind a curtain for the entire show.
I went to an Our Lady Peace show a while back and the encore consisted of the band starting out “I loved you all along” and the singer held the mic out to the audience. He didn’t have to sing a word, he just let the audience sing the entire song. It was actually quite powerfull, and would have been more so if I’d known the song prior to the concert.
When I was still playing out, my band only did encores if they were something the crowd really wanted. We tried to always end with our strongest stuff, and if we’d played a 4 hour set we were usually hard pressed to find a song we hadn’t already played.
I think the planned encore serves two purposes. First is a way for the performer to rest a moment before coming out with the big closing number. Second it is a way to signal to the audience that yes, this really is the end of the concert and after this, it really will be time for you to go home.
I have seen the good and the bad with encores. One one hand is someone like Los Lobos, who came back out to play “La Bamba”, even though it was perfectly clear to all that that song sticks in their very throats, they hate it hate it, and it’s all they can to to keep from bastardizing it with dark and obscene lyrics.
On the other hand is someone like Dan Hicks who once, when pressed to play “I scare Myself” for his big encore, looking pained and weary said, “I ain’t playing the fuckin’ song! … Is that jake with you?”
I’d be happier with the tradition if the bands insisted on some bar for the audience to clear in order to get that encore. Can’t remember if it was the 1999 or 2000 HFStival, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the concluding act. At the end of their set, people were too busy leaving to bother to applaud much. They came out and did the encore anyway. Lamers.
I once got into a drunken shouting match with an all girl “light rock” group called fe:mail for going overtime and doing an encore, despite the fact they were lame cranberries/Corrs rip offs who were going to be eaten alive by the music industry.
I think planned encores are stupid. I saw Dick Dale once and toward the end of the night he said “I’m going to leave, come back and play my encore.” and then walked to the back of the stage and then to the front and started playing Miserlou. It was classic.
I saw Tool at Charlotte and Greenville and he actually talked a good bit, surprized me too! Oh yeah, and TOOL RULES!