Death to the encore!

Certain brothers sent me a link to a good article about how much encores suck. I won't bother rehashing all the reasons, but man do they (the encores) usually suck. What was (presumably) designed as an honest way for an audience to show their appreciation for a really kick-ass show has devolved into a mandatory feature of virtually every performance. Playing an encore is like leaving a tip at a restaurant. The only time you don't is when something goes horribly, horribly wrong.

Interestingly, last month's Pitchfork Music Festival afforded an opportunity to experience the thrill of a not-totally-expected encore. The first night of the festival was kind of gimmicky: it featured 3 bands each playing their most famous album from start to finish. Slint played first (some album I've never heard of), then the Wu Tang Clan's GZA (Liquid Swords), then Sonic Youth capped off the night with Daydream Nation.

Playing an entire album at a live event has some serious drawbacks. There's no anticipation of what song the band will play next or what they'll end with. Often the best songs come near the beginning. Between-song banter feels out of place, destroying the integrity of the album rather than being interesting or (in the case of The New Pornographers) hilarious.

But as Sonic Youth was finished up their album-ending "Trilogy", the one cool thing about an album feature came to light: no one knew if they would play an encore. They were the last show of the evening. A handful of people left. As the rest of us stayed and cheered, there was a real sense of excitement because we really didn't know if they would come back out. And if they did come out, we had no idea what they would play because they had already performed their most famous song as a part of Daydream Nation.

The encore was the best part of the show, by far. I can't speak for the rest of the audience, but I felt like we earned the encore we were enjoying, rather than getting something we all felt entitled to.

This is what all encores should feel like. Let's put an end to the tomfoolery and save encores for the transcendent shows that really deserve one. And eat some toast every once in a while, too.

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Right click and save: The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour