PRINTOnce more, with feeling
Catherine Szalkowski
April 30, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
As a teenager I attended my share of concerts. I am not ashamed to admit that most involved the vocal stylings of pop music’s finest boy bands accompanied by the shrill screams of overly excited teeny-boppers. I still have a drawer in my old bedroom devoted to faded concert T-shirts and disposable camera photos.
The expectation at these shows was that the most popular song — the one that all of the screaming girls had been waiting for — would be the encore. As each show came to a close, my voice would take off on its customary week-long vacation, and the anticipation would begin to mount. The encore would elicit the loudest shrieks of the evening, despite the widespread voice loss. And the final song was always satisfying, regardless of its predictability.
This week’s feature explores the art of the encore, from its inception to its place in modern music. The reasoning behind the style of an encore varies from artist to artist, but it appears to be a staple among most performers. I’ve expanded my musical horizons since my high school days (thank goodness), but I still wait with anticipation for any show’s finale.
In the spirit of confessions, I attended another Backstreet Boys concert last summer — for old-time’s sake, of course. The group’s choice of encore was “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” complete with gyrations. Watching the grown man band bust out Thriller-like dance moves was incredibly entertaining and equally nostalgic. I could barely hear the song over the screams, though.
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