Encores became popular for pop and rock musicians in the 1960s. In most circumstances, it has become standard for
rock,
metal, and
pop artists to give an encore; especially in large settings such as
stadiums and
arenas. It is very common for
punk bands to perform an encore when in small venues. Artists often plan their encores in advance, and they are commonly included on the artist's setlist; one common practice is to leave one or more of their most popular songs for an encore. However, encores are usually only performed by the headlining artist, as opening bands almost always have restrictions on how long their set can last, and are prohibited from going over the set time with an encore. Some artists include their encore as the second half of the concert. For example, the Jamaican
reggae musician
Bob Marley and his band
The Wailers were known to play the concerts of their last two tours in 1979 and 1980 in two halves: after the first half was performed they stopped performing for some minutes to tune their instruments again or to have a break, while the audience was demanding for more. They continued to play the concert with the "encore" which lasted about an hour. Sometimes they even played one or two additional songs (a "real" encore in the traditional sense, rather than an inevitable performance staged as an encore) after the planned encore. Similarly,
Guided by Voices frontman
Robert Pollard generally plays songs from his solo career for the first half of his shows, and then, for the inevitable encore, will play a lengthy selection of Guided by Voices songs, with the two halves generally having roughly equal duration. In the early days of modern rock music,
Elvis Presley never played encores, a practice his manager
Col. Tom Parker intended to leave audiences wanting more. The now-famous phrase "
Elvis has left the building" was used at the beginning of his career when Presley was not the headliner, followed by a plea for the audience to return to their seats so as to watch those artists following Presley. Once he became a headliner, it was invariably followed by a polite "thank you, and good night", to imply to those present at the concert that there was not going to be an encore.
Jimmy Buffett was known for his intimate second encores at
his concerts. He and his band leave the stage after performing their set and return for a typical encore of usually two songs and band introductions. Then they leave the stage again and Buffett comes back out on stage by himself for a second encore and performs an acoustic ballad to end the show. This final song is usually what his
hardcore fans look forward to the most because it's a different song every show and usually an obscure selection; many fans consider Buffett's ballads to be his best songs despite not being among his famous songs. A collection of Buffett's second encores, entitled
Encores, was released in 2010.
Morphine frontman
Mark Sandman sometimes mocked the practice. At the close of Morphine shows, he would wave and say "Thank you! Good night!", but the band would remain in their places, and the lights would not be dimmed. After several minutes, the band would begin playing again.
Boston played multiple shows with four encores throughout the 1980s. Both
The Cure and
Prince have been known to play a large number of songs in their encores, either in a long singular encore or spanning across multiple encores. The encore portions of their sets have sometimes lasted longer than the initial shows themselves. The Cure has played up to five encores on a handful of occasions and Prince has played up to seven. Most modern encores in pop and rock music are pre-planned and added to the fans' setlist. During
The 1975's 2013 tour, they routinely played their popular song "
Sex" as an encore song. After their last regular setlist song, fans would chant "We want 'Sex'!" instead of "Encore!" For modern performers, it is common for them to perform a song they have not previously done on their setlist. Usually, it is one of the more popular songs from the artist. However, some may still perform a song they have already done. == Encores on Broadway ==