Do any of you recall a well-known entertainer who has not been called back for an encore by the audience?
Thanks
Q
Do audiences actually call for an encore, or do performers just come back out during the applause?
Now see? I just gave away my age, didn’t I (old!)?
I think that getting to one’s feet, clapping so hard veins burst, and yelling the word BRAVO! or ENCORE! was what usually indicated they should come back, but you’re right, Irishman, times have changed! 
I just wondered if at any particular concert anytime, the audience collectively thought, “Well didn’t he/she suck the big one?”, and just got the hell out, and backstage the artist was going… “Okay, Ogdammit!, I got 2 more to lay on y’all! Let’s get with it, shall we?”
Q
I saw Henry Rollins one time do a show, when it got to the part where the band was supposed to leave the stage for the fake encore crap he told the crowd “this is the part where we are supposed to pretend we are leaving and you pretend you want us to come back, how would you guys just like to hear another song instead?” and he kept on rockin
the Sundays were the only band I can think of that came back for Multiple Encores that I thought were truly legit. they did 3
A guy I worked with somehow scored tickets to the opening gala at Sanctuary Cove Resort in Queensland in 1988. They were very exclusive tickets, the concert billed as “The Ultimate Event” featured Frank Sinatra, Peter Allen and Whitney Houston. Apparently Houston’s performance was pathetic and my workmate reported that people began to leave after her first song. He estimated that when she finished less than half the audience remained and she only received a polite round of applause and everyone got out quick with no encore requested.
At the concerts I’ve been to they generally left the lights turned down after the band left the stage. This was the cue to the audience that they hadn’t really left, and they kept clapping until they came back out. After an encore or two they would turn the lights up, and then everyone promptly quit clapping and hurried to their cars to try to beat the traffic.
So essentially the band was in control of the number of encores. I’ve never seen a case where they left the lights down and the audience said “screw it” and left anyway.
So, Sinatra went on before Whitney Houston??? I think I’d have left too!
In most popular concerts I’ve been to, the encore was planned. The musicians usually played a real crowd pleasing song to end the set, something designed to create a lot of enthusiasm and make the call for an encore seem natural. Then they’d finish with something a little bit downbeat – good, but not things to get the audience wild for more.
The classic example of this was in a Pink Floyd concert I saw back in 1973. After they finished their set (8 songs; two hours of music), the came back with an encore. Any Pink Floyd song would have generated enthusiasm for more, so they did this really great blues jam. Great music, but not Pink Floyd, and no one tried to get them to come out again.
From what I understand, Tool doesn’t do encores. They do an intermission in the middle of the show instead.
The group I saw that handled this the best was Santana the one time I saw them. Most of the time there is usually at least a little let down when the lights come up and you know there won’t be another encore. Santana came out for an extended encore and ended it with a great number that had everyone on their feet. As the song was being played the house lights slowly came up. By the end of the number the lights were on and the band said their goodbyes and the audience showed their appreciation. It felt natural to leave at the end without any feeling of being let down. Suddenly turning up the lights seems abrupt at times and can be disappointing.
BTW I am not a big Santana fan. I of course know all the big hits and classic rock staples. I saw the show years ago when I was going to lots of concerts. I thought it would be a good idea to see Carlos at least once since he is an icon. The show was fantastic. Carlos was probably the worst musician on the stage. He surrounds himself with a ton of talent.
In 1962 I saw Peter, Paul, and Mary at the height of their popularity performing on a college campus (UNC-CH) at a free (!) concert. Not only was every seat in the auditorium taken, all the windows were open so that the crowd of people surrounding the building could hear the concert. At the end of the concert, Peter or Paul said “We don’t do encores, but here are a couple of numbers we would do if we did.” They then reprised two of their hits and left the stage. Then, in spite of the most thunderous applause I have ever heard at any concert before or since, they didn’t return.
Twisted Sister/Dee Snyder doesn’t do encores. At least that’s what I’ve heard him say on his live disks and when I’ve seen him live.
I went to a Dick Dale concert in Amsterdam, where he played for about three hours (or at least, a very long time) and when he finished he said: We played for a damn long time, so don’t ask for any encores or anything."…and no one did.
The Rolling Stones. Seriously.
In their/our defence, it was RFK stadium (the Steel Wheels tour) and there was freezing rain pouring down on us all.
I give them mega props for coming out to play at all. And us for standing there!
In Seattle sometime in the 90s (don’t remember exactly since I’ve seen them many times), Jethro Tull did a triple-encore. It was fantastic.
I don’t believe it was planned for them to do three, because for the final two encores the house lights had come up, and by the third the venue staff were looking mighty irritated with much crossing of arms and looking at watches.
I was at a Barry White concert that was so bad people weren’t just leaving, they were chanting. Nevertheless, he did an encore.
I was also at a Bob Dylan show sufficiently bad that around half the audience (myself included) had left within half an hour. I was told by a friend that he did two encores for the couple of hundred people who stayed to the end.
It’s just some sort of barnstorming era gladhanding BS. I wish it wasn’t so expected. It’s as tiresome as coaches getting gatorade dumped on them anymore.
Most encores nowadays are preplanned, and are even written on the setlist ahead of time.
When I saw Wilco last February during their “Winter Residency” shows here in Chicago, they did their regular encore, left the stage, and then the lights came up and the PA music came up - indicating that it was over and we should all go home now.
The crowd would not stop cheering and eventually they came out and did another song.
It was the most intense show I’ve ever been to as far as crowd enthusiasm, and the first “real” encore I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness.