Encores: whether to do one, how many, how long
Here is the thing nobody tells you: an encore is not a rule. You do not owe anyone one, and walking off to real applause and leaving it there can be the strongest ending of the night. But the worst version is the band huddled at the side of the stage, unsure, while the clapping fades. Decide on the spot if you like. Just decide with a song already loaded.
So this is really two questions. Do you do an encore tonight? And if you might, what have you prepared so the answer can be yes without a scramble?
Do you need an encore at all?
Read the room, not the script. If the applause is genuine and still building when you finish, an encore rewards it. If the room is warm but done, or the set already peaked and landed cleanly, let the ending stand. A forced encore into a half-empty room deflates everything you built. When in doubt, under-do it. Leaving a crowd wanting one more is a better memory than one song too many.
Either way, prepare the option. Have one or two songs held back that are not in the main set, so "should we?" is a decision, not a panic.
How many, by set length
The longer you have played, the bigger the goodbye you have earned. Roughly:
- Under 45 minutes: skip it. End on your peak and go.
- 45 to 75 minutes: often none, at most one short encore.
- 75 minutes to two hours: one encore, occasionally two.
- Over two hours: two, occasionally three. Never more.
Keep each one short. For most shows that is one to three songs; only a long, two-hours-plus headline set stretches the first encore to four or more. An encore is a coda, not a second set: past a few songs you are not encoring, you are just still playing.
Which song you actually play, and how you shape the ending, is a whole craft on its own, one I will get to in a separate piece.
This is the fiddly bookkeeping SetlistFlow quietly does for you. FlowBuilder sizes the encore to your set's length (none for a short slot, usually one for a typical show, two or three for a long one) and puts it on the last set of a multi-set night. Try it free, no account.
Prepare an encore. Then read the room and decide. That is the whole art of it.