In Praise of the Unearned Encore

We’ve all seen it a million times – a dingy club, maybe twenty disinterested patrons and a band of dubious talent hacking through some forgettable, derivative material. Inevitably, they finish their set and then huddle up on the side of the stage before making their triumphant, 6-foot walk back to their instruments like the conquering heroes they know they are. You can almost hear the wheels turning in their heads – “We don’t want this to end… let’s do an encore!”