Encores

Does anyone else get a bit annoyed with encores?  They're just so contrived.  The band go off, the lights stay low, no-one moves, people shout and clap, and the band come back on to play songs that everyone knew they were going to play, because they include the bands biggest hit, and the band planned them into the setlist before the gig.
I wish we could have real encores.  Where the band play their whole set as planned and then they go off and the lights come up.  If it has been a particularly impressive show, or if the crowd are particularly partisan, they shout for more and the band reappear and play a song that they've already played because they hadn't planned an encore.

Inner circle review

Warning: this post displays epic geekery.

I categorise bands/artists that I like into three 'circles'.  The inner circle are my very favourite bands.  I just love them.  The second circle are other bands I think are very good.  They generally fail to get into the inner circle for one or more of three reasons: they have not produced enough music yet; their music is too variable in quality; or I just don't quite like their music enough.  The third circle are other bands that I like and regularly listen too.

Today there is are to alterations to the inner circle.  Anberlin are moving back into the second circle, on the basis of a relatively weak 5th album and a slightly disappointing gig.  Athlete are moving into the inner circle.

This leaves this inner circle as: Athlete, British Sea Power, Delirious, Idlewild, Lifehouse and Mew.
The second circle is: Bloc Party, Coldplay, DCTalk, Easyworld, Editors, Enya, Feeder, Muse, Anberlin, Matt Redman, Oasis, Sigur Ros, Stellastarr* and U2.