Last night I went to see The New Pornographers perform at the Orpheum Theatre here in Madison. While the absence of Neko Case was disappointing for me (get better soon Neko, we missed you!), the concert was a good one. But I’m not going to talk about the whole show, if you’re interested Muzzle of Bees has a good review on their website. I want to talk about the encore the band performed.

After a good long set of music, The New Pornographers thanked the crowd and left the stage. Here it comes, I thought. It’s such a cliché, the way rock concert encores happen these days.

First there is this long, contrived period of waiting when you know the band is going to come back on stage. But as an appreciative audience member, you feel obligated to keep applauding. Often the band takes so long to return to the stage, you have to stop applauding because the muscles in your arms start cramping up. Then when the band does finally return to the stage, they can play so many songs it’s a second set, not an encore. I’m not complaining about concerts being too long, if a band wants to play a second set of music that’s great, but don’t use that as the encore. Just tell us you’ll be back on stage after a short break.

The geeky librarian in me is compelled to look up the word “encore.” The American Heritage Dictionary has this definition: “A demand by an audience for an additional performance, usually expressed by applause.”

As the encore is now always expected, a real encore only happens if there is a second one. Then you truly know the band appreciated the audience and is willing to come back and play more music.

Getting back to The New Pornographers’ encore last night, it really surprised me when the band returned to the stage after a scant 30 second absence. When people in the crowd started shouting songs they wanted to hear (another cliché I should blog about), frontman A.C. Newman retorted “Whatever you’re yelling out, I promise you this song is waaaaaaay better.”

The band then launched into a fierce cover of E.L.O.’s “Don’t Bring Be Down.” Way better indeed. Next the band performed a killer rendition of one of their classic songs “The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism,” thanked the crowd again, and the show was over.

What a perfect encore. A short wait, an excellent version of a surprise song, and a great song from the band’s back catalog. Now that’s how to end a concert.