Encore Tips: How to End Your Show Perfectly
The encore is the last thing your audience remembers. Here's how to make it count.
How Should You Do an Encore?
A good encore is earned, not assumed: walk off after your main set ends strong, return only if the crowd sustains genuine demand, and play 1–3 songs that include your absolute best remaining material — not what didn't fit earlier. Save at least one landmark song specifically for this moment, and end cleanly rather than dragging it out.
| Encore Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Don't plan it — plan for it | Walk off clean; only return if genuinely earned |
| 1–3 songs maximum | Short and impactful beats long and diluted |
| Save a landmark for here | Your biggest moment hits hardest after anticipation builds |
| End definitively | The last note of the night is your final impression |
A great encore feels spontaneous. It never is.
The bands that pull off memorable encores — where the crowd is genuinely chanting, the energy peaks one final time, and everyone leaves feeling like they witnessed something — do it because they planned it carefully and then performed it like they didn't.
Here's everything you need to know about nailing the encore.
What Is an Encore — And Why Do Bands Do Them?
An encore is a performance of additional songs after the apparent end of the main set, typically following a brief exit from the stage and a sustained audience reaction.
The tradition started as a genuine expression of audience demand: the band played their set, the crowd wanted more, and the band came back to deliver it. In modern live music, it's become somewhat ritualized — audiences expect an encore even when they're not sure they've earned it.
That ritualization has diluted the encore's power. But used correctly — earned, not assumed — it's still one of the most powerful moments in a live show. The key is treating it as a reward, not a routine.
The Golden Rules of Encores
1. Don't plan an encore — plan for one
Never build your setlist assuming you'll do an encore. Build your main set to end at your allotted time and finish strong. Then hold 1–3 songs in reserve. If the crowd earns the encore, you have options. If they don't, you close cleanly.
Walking off stage and returning to a politely applauding room that's already putting on their coats is worse than not doing an encore at all.
2. Save something genuinely great
The encore is not where you dump the songs that didn't fit in the main set. It's where you deliver one of your biggest moments.
Think of it this way: the crowd is giving you bonus time. They've chosen to keep demanding your presence instead of heading to the bar or calling an Uber. Honor that by giving them something that justifies the decision.
Your encore should contain at minimum one song that could headline the main set. Ideally, it's the song that makes people tell their friends "you should have been there." Your crowd reaction scores will tell you which songs have historically earned that reaction — use them.
3. Keep it short
One to three songs. That's it.
An encore that runs longer than three songs isn't an encore — it's a second set, and it doesn't feel special anymore. The power of an encore comes from its brevity. In, deliver the moment, out. Leave them wanting more — even in the encore itself.
4. Make the re-entrance count
The moment you walk back on stage after the crowd has called you back is charged with energy. Don't waste it with a slow start. Your first encore song should hit quickly and decisively. The crowd is already at peak excitement; match it immediately.
5. End on your absolute best
Whatever your encore setlist looks like, your final song — the last song of the night — should be the strongest moment of the entire show. Not the second strongest. The strongest.
This is the note you leave on. It's the song that plays in the Uber home. It's what people tell their friends about. Don't hold it back for a hypothetical second encore — put it in the first and close the night properly.
How Many Songs Should an Encore Be?
| Situation | Encore Length |
|---|---|
| Club/bar show, warm crowd | 1–2 songs |
| Headline show, strong reaction | 2–3 songs |
| Festival slot | Usually skip the encore — time constraints make it impractical |
| Private event or function | Skip — encores feel out of place in these contexts |
Never do more than three songs in an encore unless you're headlining a major venue and the crowd is genuinely going to riot if you stop. Even then, three is usually enough.
Should You Do a Second Encore?
Rarely. Almost never.
Second encores work for legendary acts with decades of goodwill and deep catalogs. For most gigging bands, a second encore feels like you're milking it — and audiences can sense that.
The test: did the crowd come back louder and more demanding after the first encore than they were after the main set? If yes, and the venue is okay with it, one more song might be warranted. If you have to prompt or wait for the second call, the answer is no.
What Songs Work Best in an Encore
Your crowd's favorite song. If you have one track that consistently gets the strongest reaction — the song people sing along to, cheer loudest for, or request most — it belongs here.
A cover the whole room knows. A well-chosen cover in the encore slot works because everyone in the room suddenly becomes part of the performance. If you can pick a cover that fits your style and gets the room singing together, it becomes a shared moment that feels bigger than the song itself.
Your most anthemic original. If you're an original act and you have a song that feels like a closing statement — lyrically, melodically, emotionally — the encore is its home.
A song that rewards the fans who stayed. If you have deep cuts that your most loyal fans love but casual audiences might not know, a second encore song (if you're doing two) is a good place for it. It's a gift to the people who've been there from the beginning.
Encore Mistakes That Kill the Moment
Asking for the encore yourself. "Should we do one more?" from the stage is the single fastest way to deflate the energy you just built. Walk off. Let the audience decide. If they want more, they'll tell you.
Coming back too quickly. Give the crowd 30–60 seconds to build the call. Walking back on stage 10 seconds after you left doesn't feel like an encore — it feels like you forgot something.
Coming back too slowly. Conversely, making the crowd wait 3–4 minutes tests patience and kills momentum. The window of genuine demand is shorter than you think. Once the room starts breaking into side conversations, the moment has passed.
Playing a new song in the encore. New songs require patience and familiarity to land. The encore is not the time to ask for either. Play what the crowd already loves.
A weak closer. Whatever your last song is — it has to be great. Nothing deflates a night like an encore that ends on a song that doesn't quite land. If you don't have a song strong enough to close the encore on, do a shorter encore and end earlier on something stronger.
Ignoring room size and context. Encores work in certain contexts and fall flat in others. A nearly empty bar at 10pm on a Tuesday is not encore territory. Read the room. A confident, strong close to your main set will land better than a forced encore in a half-interested room.
Planning Your Encore in Setlistly
The mistake most bands make with encores is not planning them at all — they decide in the moment, based on adrenaline and whatever comes to mind. That's how you end up playing a song the band isn't tight on, or burning your biggest moment on the wrong night.
In Setlistly, you can build your encore as a separate section of your setlist — flagged and ready, but held back from the main arc. Your song library stores crowd reaction scores and band ratings per track, so when you're deciding which songs belong in the encore slot, you're looking at actual performance data rather than going on gut alone.
The AI setlist feature also factors in what you've been playing recently — so if you've been closing on the same song for six shows in a row, it flags the repetition and surfaces alternatives. That's how you keep your best moments feeling fresh instead of routine. Your post-show review data feeds directly into these suggestions over time.
Ready to level up your live shows?
Plan your full set and encore with Setlistly — free at setlistly.com
Get Started FreeEncore Tips: Quick Summary
- Plan for an encore, never assume one
- Hold 1–3 of your strongest songs in reserve
- Keep it to 2–3 songs maximum
- Don't ask the crowd for the encore — let them demand it
- Your very last song should be the best moment of the night
- Read the room — not every show earns an encore, and that's okay
The bands who do encores best treat them like the final chapter of a story. The main set builds the world. The encore is the last line. Make it one worth remembering.
For everything before the encore — how to structure your full set, how long it should be, and how many songs to include — read the complete guide: How to Make a Setlist: The Complete Guide for Gigging Bands