“One More Tune!” The Encore Ritual in Live Music Events

Abstract

The encore ritual at live music events is a ubiquitous yet under-researched phenomenon. Drawing on ethnographic research carried out in Glasgow, Sheffield, and Bristol, this paper deconstructs the encore ritual as it is enacted by performer and audience, and highlights the covert yet vital complicity of the promoter/venue. It argues that, while the encore began as a spontaneous display of audience enthusiasm, it has now become an expected and ritualized part of a live music performance. The paper illustrates how encores now fulfill a variety of functions, including indicating temporality, allowing artists to thank their audiences, and allowing the audience to feel some semblance of empowerment within the event.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Simon Frith and Martin Cloonan for their invaluable contributions to this paper. The research is part of a larger project examining the promotion of live music in the UK, and is funded by AHRC research grant F00947/1.

Notes

 [1] For example, Britons spent more on live music concert tickets in 2008 than they did on recorded music (CDs and downloads combined), making the live industry now the largest source of revenue in the British music industries (Prynn; “UK Live Revenues”).

 [2] For the purposes of my research, live music events also include events at which the music comes from pre-recorded sources, such as in clubs.

 [3] A curtain call is the opportunity at the end of a non-musical theatrical production for the audience to call the actors back on to the stage for further applause, but, unlike a musical encore, the actors would not be expected to perform again. As with the encore, often the curtain call will be rehearsed as to who leads the bowing and how many times the cast will bow. Status is also apparent in curtain calls as often the lead actor or actress will be the last person to receive their opportunity to bow. Musical theatre productions often contain a pre-rehearsed repeat of one of the musical numbers in a show.

 [4] Interestingly, in France and Italy, “Bis!” is used, not “Encore,” hence “bisseurs” (Cochrane).

 [5] This rule was broken, however, in 2007 by tenor Juan Diego Flórez, when “the ovation…was so overwhelming that [the conductor], was forced by public pressure to allow the tenor…to sing the aria again” (Rome).

 [6] While this paper is mostly focused on popular music events, the ending rituals at classical concerts are also of note, as they share many of the traits and audience behaviors of the true encore ritual: stamping feet, whooping, rhythmic stamping, etc. However, during my research period at classical concerts in Bristol and Glasgow, these behaviors did not usually lead to an actual encore being performed. Perhaps here the audience response was not great enough to encourage the artist to perform again or protocols for classical music mean that only visiting orchestras are given such an accolade. Only once did I witness an actual encore, at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, following a performance of a Tchaikovsky violin concerto by Renaud Capuçon in the first half of the concert. Following extended and enthusiastic applause, he returned to the stage to perform a solo encore before the interval. Capuçon's presence was not required in the second half of the concert and this was the only appropriate time for an encore, highlighting again the differences in encore rituals across music genres.

 [7] It is possible that the development of the encore ritual in popular music is linked to the rise of the “superstar” or headline artist. An encore disturbs the rhythm of the show; therefore they tend to be limited to headliners, rather than “package tour” artists.

 [8] However, not all audiences by 1978 were aware of this so-called encore ritual, as the following example illustrates. In Newcastle, Hot Chocolate had left the stage after the “final” song to wait in the wings to be called back. The 2,400 crowd were silent, however, as they “just didn't know how it's done.” Luckily, after a few minutes of torturous silence in which the band wondered how to return to the stage when the crowd, in fact, had not called them back for more, a few women in the balcony started a “barely audible” chant of “We want more!” after which the band returned to the stage to play another song (Sutcliffe “Hot Chocolate”).

 [9] Encore rituals also occur at club type events, although in my experience the houselights will often be switched on, leaving the audience to dance in the light after calling almost desperately for “One more tune!”

[10] This break in events is often used as an opportunity to promote the availability of merchandise or recorded products for sale, either on site or in general.

[11] Stamping as a means of applause may have evolved from the orchestra's method of applauding for conductors or soloists—namely, stamping their feet, as they are unable to use their hands since they are holding their instruments.

[12] After the support act's set, the background music would fade up and the side stage lights would be switched on to illuminate the stage; the houselights would stay down, however, to demonstrate to the audience that the show had not yet finished.

[13] Another illustration of the difference in status between headline and support artists at King Tut's is that the support artists have to leave via the front of the stage after they have tidied up. The headline artist is able to remain unseen before and after the show via the backstage stage door, accessed through the venue car-park and leading directly on to the stage. Status may also be revealed by the level of help artists have, such as whether they have a guitar technician, for example.

[14] Similarly, the complicated logistics of a symphony orchestra actually leaving the stage and returning for an encore affects how they may attempt to show spontaneity in other ways, as highlighted previously.

[15] Chuck Berry famously would not reappear for an encore unless it was paid for as an extra by the promoter as he saw it as “playing for free” and not part of the original contract (Laurence).