Some Of The Longest Rock Encores In Music History, Ranked By Number Of Songs

Some may feel like the best part of a show is the encore. Maybe it's not knowing what songs will be played or how many you'll hear. Throughout the years, there have been some epic encores in rock, and we picked some of the longest based on the number of songs.

Some might say that it's easy to tell when a band plays an encore out of obligation, as their fatigue and desire to get off the stage can be felt from the crowd. We picked the following encores not only because of their length but due to the willingness of the performers to push themselves physically and artistically. Some of them gave their entire encore performance after only one return to the stage, and others performed multiple encores, as if they just couldn't stand to see the show end. Either way, all of these artists extended their show for no less than an hour, giving fans way more than they probably anticipated.

Bruce Springsteen is known for playing incredibly long concerts and treating fans to multi-song encores, and one of those shows was at the Summit in Houston on December 8, 1978. Even before Springsteen launched into five encore tunes, he performed 21 songs across two sets, opening with "Badlands," off 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and ending with "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," which is on the album "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle." 

The crowd probably wasn't all that surprised when the encore came, based on Springsteen's hardworking, blue-collar approach to playing shows, but they might've been surprised at the sheer number of songs he played. The first of the encore cuts was "Born to Run," before "Detroit Medley" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" were played. The last two songs, "You Can't Sit Down" by the Phil Upchurch Combo and "Quarter to Three" by Gary "U.S." Bonds, were covers.

Springsteen talked about his reputation for playing incredibly long concerts in 2019 while he was a guest on "The Graham Norton Show" and gave a tongue-in-cheek explanation, saying, "It's pure psychosis, the reason why concerts are so long. I do it, but I don't like to. I shoot for three [hours], and sometimes we go for a little bit longer ... Those are the only four hours I actually get to be boss."

When the Grateful Dead played at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., in 1973, those in attendance probably didn't know they'd hear a whole bunch of encore songs, but that's exactly what happened on that June day. The band ran through seven cuts in the third set, all considered encore songs, and they brought Merl Saunders on stage — who began playing with the Dead's lead singer, Jerry Garcia, in the early '70s.

A couple of members from the Allman Brothers Band, Butch Trucks and Dickey Betts, joined in as well, and everyone ran through cover songs such as "Not Fade Away" by the Crickets and Elvis Presley's "That's All Right" before closing things out with Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." The Dead and the Allman Brothers were the co-headliners of the two-day concert, which drew 80,000 fans.

By the time everything was said, done, and played, the encore lasted a full hour, making it clear the band didn't perform those songs out of a sense of duty but out of a love for jamming and wanting to please their devoted fans. 

Fresh off their "No Code" album in 1996, Pearl Jam played what could be called a marathon show at New York City's Downing Stadium that lasted for three hours and had two encores, which included nine songs. The revered band closed out their regular set with "Porch," a cut from their debut album "Ten," before launching into their first encore song, "In My Tree." The band played "Even Flow" after that, followed by "Daughter," "Mankind," "Long Road," and a cover of Eddie Holland's "Leaving Here."  

Then, when people probably thought they'd be heading for their cars soon, the second encore began with "Off He Goes," followed by "Present Tense." The show ended with "Yellow Ledbetter," a cut that was recorded for "Ten" but didn't make the album.

There was also one part of the show where the band's frontman, Eddie Vedder, who often does over-the-top, daredevil stage stunts, duct-taped himself and leapt into the crowd. Vedder warned people about hurting others while moshing as well, saying the band would probably never play again if someone was fatally injured at one of their shows.

The Cure officially holds the world record for the most encores played in a single show, playing 12 songs during five encore performances. They did it at a nearly three-hour concert that took place on August 31, 2004, at the Everett Events Center in Everett, Washington, and those in attendance are still talking about it on social media.

"Lost" was the first song played at the start of the show, which is the opening cut on the Cure's 2004 eponymous album. From there, Robert Smith and company launched into "Plainsong," "Labyrinth," and "Fascination Street." But the band was just getting warmed up, because they would play another 13 songs before even getting to the first encore performance.

"The Drowning Man" was the first encore cut. Then came "Charlotte Sometimes," and after that they played the title track of their 1981 album "Faith." By the time the band got to the second set of encore songs, which started with "Three Imaginary Boys," they had already played 20 songs, a clear sign that they were willing to extend themselves physically to give fans more than their $50 worth. Not only that, the Cure gave those fans a chance to witness something that was recorded in Guinness World Records.