Queen Revisits Their Encores In New The Greatest Video

On the latest episode of the weekly series The Greatest Live, Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor looked back to some of their band’s encores in the past and gave their fair share of why they think of it as a vital element in every performance.

Contrary to the saying: “always leave them wanting more,” Queen is known for giving fans more than what they paid for by returning to the stage after the long list of songs that they’re expected to perform. During their interview, May and Taylor explained why. Taylor says:

“I think audiences these days are aware the encore isn’t really the old-fashioned kind, which was, ‘Oh, that was so wonderful, we actually want more.’
“It’s built into the show. You’re expecting to play it. They’re expecting to hear it. And our encores have very well-known songs. It would feel quite weird if they’d come to a show and we hadn’t played them. So it’s not a secret.”

While, May, on the other hand, says:

“You have to go off and refresh at that point because you’ve given everything and you’re like a wet rag at the end of what we’ve done after two-and-a-half hours. You know, you need to go off, change your clothes and take a deep breath for that final push.”

For the two, an encore is a super powerful tool to keep these fans coming back for more. Brian added:

“How do you want to send people out?
“It’s a big question, which we do ask ourselves. You know, what do you want to have in people’s heads as they go out? And I think it’s fulfillment. It’s like good sex. You know, you want to come out of it thinking, ‘Yeah, that was everything it should have been’. And you want people to be talking to each other: ‘Ah, that was awesome. Do you remember the bit where…?’ Just like we used to as kids when we left The Who shows.”

In the past, the band usually closes their show with “In The Lap Of The Gods… Revisited,” “On Jailhouse Rock, We Could Go A Bit Mad,” or “Big Spender.” However, by 1977, they realized that nothing really beats “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” For May, it’s like a “participation thing.” He explained:

“The fact the fans can stretch their bodies upwards to the sky and sing and chant and stamp and clap to Rock You and Champions is kind of an unbeatable thing. You can’t really follow that.”

Watch the video below.