We all know you’re coming back, the lights haven’t gone up. I’m sure it’s nice to feel wanted, but you’ve already had loads of applause, just give us the show.
Anyway I saw Kneecap last week and they just put out an hour of bangers and left without an encore. Tight as fuck, energy stayed through the roof the whole time, one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.
If you’re going to big/medium-sized acts from musicians that have definitively “made it” then I think this makes sense. I’ve been to plenty of shows where an encore was neither expected nor desired, and others where an encore came at (what looked like) genuine surprise to the band.
So yeah, when you’re selling out all your shows and the last 10 all demanded an encore, then just start baking it into your set, but there has to be some marker of when you’ve reached this point.