The Best Classic Rock Concert Encores Of All Time

There's nothing like a rock concert encore; that feeling that explodes over the crowd when showers of applause and chanting bring the band back on stage. Beyond the price of admission, each one is pure momentum, crashing like a final sonic wave. The extra songs are cherries that the audience and band have placed on top of the cake together: gifts for the musicians, fans, and crew alike. You might not remember the middle of the set, but you never forget the encore.

Rock fans in the '70s, '80s, and '90s caught truly legendary performances, made even sweeter by additions to the set. Capping legendary concerts, encores by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin encapsulated everything that made these bands heavy and iconic. When the Band brought old pal Bob Dylan up with them on stage, or Fleetwood Mac emerged from backstage with a marching band in tow, audiences knew they were in for something special. We're lucky to have recordings or videos of these moments, but you probably had to be there.

So, how do you pick the best rock encores? For this roundup, we looked for moments of rock 'n' roll transcendence: encores that brought bands and fans together, burned bright and blew minds, and gave glorious life to classic rock bangers. Every encore is special — and there are doubtless some we missed — but we think these are the mightiest in classic rock history.

Led Zeppelin took the rock throne on their 1973 "Houses of the Holy" U.S. tour. This three-month run broke box office records and became the stuff of legend: trashed hotel rooms, limousines, rapt arenas, and a personal jet called the Starship. As captured in the album and film, "The Song Remains the Same," the final shows at New York's Madison Square Garden were crown jewels. The final encore, a scorching hot rendition of "The Ocean," found both band and frenzied fans basking in the sheer glory of their collective might.

The Band loved to bring up guests; backing up other artists was how they came up in the music business. For the encore of their New Year's Eve show at Boston's Academy of Music in 1971, old pal Bob Dylan — who'd been keeping a low profile — joined them for a mini-set featuring classics like "Don't Ya Tell Henry" and "Like a Rolling Stone." As captured on the "Live at the Academy of Music 1971" album, the rendition of the latter, with Dylan, the Band, and the crowd singing their hearts out, is ragged and sublime.

If the "Purple Rain" album and film made Prince a superstar, the tour that followed made him a legend. Backed by the Revolution, featuring guitarist Wendy Melvoin and keyboardist Lisa Coleman, his performances were iconic. The three-song encore of a March 30, 1985, concert at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, closed with a fiery, 16-minute version of "Purple Rain" Joined on stage by artists he was producing and touring with acts like Sheila E., Prince's sheer power and peerless guitar work were on full display, painting another town purple.

French Cure fans at the Théâtre Antique d'Orange in August of 1986 got far more than the price of admission. As captured in the concert film "The Cure Live in Orange," frontman Robert Smith ditched his famous mop of hair for a buzz cut, shocking fans. After a scorching set, neither the band nor crowd could let go, leading to a rousing nine-song encore. Renditions of hits like "Boys Don't Cry," "Faith," and "10:15 Saturday Nights" are luminous and powerful, sounding even cooler today than they did then.

It's one thing to trot out a couple of tunes for an encore; it's another to turn the extra time into a psychedelic freakout. That's exactly what progressive rockers Pink Floyd did in November of 1974 at London's Empire Pool in Wembley Stadium, closing with the 24-minute-long song "Echoes" off the "Meddle" album. Found on "The Early Years: Continu/Ation: 1967-1974 Sessions," vol. 7 of "The Early Years: 1967-1972," the version features everything fans love about the band: extended breakdowns and jams, cutting guitar work, shimmering keyboards and synthesizers, and luminous vocal harmonies.

Four years after going their separate ways, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young reformed in 1974 to embark on what came to be known as the "Doom Tour." Fueled by drugs and outsized egos, tensions caused by the tangled story of their original run resurfaced, with Neil Young eventually traveling in a separate bus from the others. Still, the quartet delivered every night. During a September concert at London's Wembley Stadium, the encore — a blistering rendition of their protest anthem "Ohio" — was a knock-out punch. Their urgent, angry performance is proof the band wasn't just about peace and love.

In the '70s, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath built a reputation for relentless live performances. On August 5, 1975, the tour for the "Sabotage" album was in full swing, and the encore of a concert at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, displayed the raw, primal power of the band. Returning to the stage, lead singer Ozzy Osbourne called out, "What do you wanna hear?" Then, with a crowd of 3,600 singing every word, Sabbath lashed into a ferocious, searing version of their early hit "Paranoid." The rock gods were pleased.

By the late '70s, Bruce Springsteen fans knew that he and his E Street Band were going to bring it. By the time the "Darkness" tour got to Cleveland, Ohio, on August 31, 1978, the band had been on the road since May and was looking forward to dates for most of the rest of the year. After two sets at the Agora Theater, the encore was legendary. The band ripped through classics like "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" and "Born to Run" as well as Patti Smith Group's "Because the Night." 

During a two-night stand at London's Royal Albert Hall on September 30 and October 1, 1983, Siouxsie and the Banshees brought on Cure frontman Robert Smith as a full-time member. As captured in the "Nocturne" live album and film, the encore featured "Spellbound," the Beatles' "Helter Skelter," and an electrifying "Happy House." Commitments with the Cure forced Smith's exit from the group in 1984, but this performance showcases how much his guitar work added during his short tenure. And of course, Siouxsie and the rest of the band are truly magnetic. 

On May 23, 1997, the classic Fleetwood Mac line-up — Mick Fleetwood, Lindsay Buckingham, Christine and John McVie, and Stevie Nicks — reunited on stage for the first time since Buckingham quit in 1987. As captured on "The Dance" album and concert film, the band played a stirring, emotional set. But the quintet saved the best for last for the audience at Burbank's Warner Brothers Studios. The encore featured classic cuts like "Tusk" and "Don't Stop" backed by the University of Southern California marching band, followed by a sublime "Songbird." What a return to form.