“What a lot of bollocks”: The reason The Who never did encores
The encore has developed over time. What was once a sign of merit and something that bands earned is now a simple formality. When planning setlists, bands account for their encores just as much as they do the opener. Sometimes, their biggest songs are left until they have gone off stage for the first time, and fans are well aware that they plan on coming back to play them. One musical outfit that doesn’t and has never accounted for encores is The Who.
It’s not that they were strangers to the prospect of an encore. They were one of the most exciting live bands on the planet, with a massive sound and thrilling stage presence that meant people who attended their gigs didn’t want them to end. However, after a few encores too many, the band stopped coming out altogether. While many people would have been disappointed when the band decided to stop coming out after the gig, Roger Daltrey confirmed he was doing them a favour.
During an interview, Daltrey was asked why they decided to stop playing encores, and his response was quick-fired and considered, “Our encores were always shitty,” he said. “If you ever got an encore, you regretted asking for it.”
Daltrey denounced the culture surrounding encores and voiced his disapproval of the fact that many bands take them into account when putting together a setlist. He was a firm believer that the show should speak for itself and that an encore shouldn’t form a person’s opinion on the gig as a whole.
“We all gave it all out in the show. If you give a good show out, you’ve got nothing left for a good encore,” he confirmed, “And pretentious crap about, oh, we go off now, so we can be called back. What a lot of bollocks.”
It’s certainly a topic that’s up for debate. While some may argue that a band should leave everything on stage the first time, others would say that leaving everything on stage means curating a setlist that keeps the audience on tenterhooks. When you consider some of the best setlists of all time, many great artists leave their biggest hits until the very end. While some may see this as a hack, others would argue it gives the song its own life, having it treated as a track in and of itself rather than as part of the wider setlist.
Consider that when Prince played the Carrier Dome in 1985, his setlist consisted of hits such as ‘1999’, ‘Little Red Corvette’, and ‘When Doves Cry’. However, he played ‘Purple Rain’ as a standalone song on an encore. Joni Mitchell did something similar when she played an excellent set in 1970 but came on stage for an encore to deliver ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ to the crowd. Some would argue this elevates a performance rather than drags it down.
Roger Daltrey clearly has his own view on the matter, and there won’t likely be a definitive answer on the legitimacy of the encore any time soon.
