No Encore! Lib/E: Musicians Reveal Their Weirdest, Wildest, Most Embarrassing Gigs

by Drew Fortune

Featuring never-before-told stories, No Encore! takes you on tour with over sixty iconic musicians as they relive their weirdest, wildest, most embarrassing gigs.

“They hated us and started throwing cups, bottles, change, chairs, and anything that wasn’t nailed down.” —Dean Ween

This hilarious, sometimes horrifying, collection spans four decades and chronicles the craziest, druggiest, and most embarrassing concert moments in music history—direct from the artists who survived them. 

“In the midst of my insanity, I thought it would be a very romantic gesture to go into Fiona Apple’s dressing room and write a message on her wall in my own blood.” —Dave Navarro

From wardrobe malfunctions to equipment failures, from bad decisions to even worse choices, this is a riveting look into what happens when things go wrong onstage and off.

“Ozzy had a sixty-inch teleprompter with the song lyrics, and that got stolen, along with microphones, snare drums and cymbals. Our drummer at the time was stabbing people in the neck with his drumstick.” —Zakk Wylde

No Encore! is an unflinchingly honest account of the shows that tested the dedication to a dream—from Alice Cooper’s python having a violent, gastric malfunction on stage to Lou Barlow’s disastrous attempt to sober up at Glastonbury, from Shirley Manson’s desperate search for a bathroom to the extraordinary effort made to awaken Al Jourgenson as Ministry was taking the stage. As Hunter S. Thompson famously wrote, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” 

“I go to exit the venue, and there’s 25 people marching towards us. It’s about 3:00 AM, and they weren’t there to be nice. They were carrying bats, boards, chains, hammers, and they were coming for us.” —Dee Snider

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Pop Culture

Audio CD

Published October 22, 2019

Reviews

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason I awarded this book 5 stars isn’t because it is a great work of literature. Rather, it’s the most lighthearted, maximally entertaining book I’ve read in some time. With most musician’s accounts being no longer than 4 or 5 pages, this book provides many bite sized accounts of madness. In fact, if I ever encountered a book entitled “Bite Sized Accounts of Madness”, I’d be all over it! I can’t recommend this book enough.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moderately entertaining. Not that many great stories considering that there are so many tales from musicians floating around. Too much of the book is spent on artists that most people don't care about anyways. I really lost interest in it well before I finished the book. It could have been so much better.

[Clarence Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmp.

[Sara Dallmayr · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining read. Horrible moments are going to happen onstage. Embarrassing gigs haunt a performer's emotional psyche (and sometimes more) for the rest of their career, and probably the audience too. I enjoyed hearing the stories relayed with the performer's voice intact, which allowed the character and personality to shine through. By doing so, it gives the reader a chance to sift through the artists and often I found myself wanting to know more about an artist whose work I don't know very well, if at all.

The intent of the book, besides relaying these fantastically horrifying and often hilarious mishaps, is to not just focus on what went wrong, but what keeps us coming back to the "scene of the crime," so to speak. Fortune is a genuine lover of music, a long time concert enthusiast, and the performers are able to reminisce while keeping their integrity intact. Failure is a fleeting moment; success is a universal quality. Passion for creating and being a part of something larger and more beautiful than our individual coils is what draws us all to music, some more enthusiastically and intimately, others just passing through. I found that universal thread to be really inspiring - in spite of and partly because of the byproducts of daily performances, copious and frequent drug use, liquid nourishment, and the clashing of strong egos and personalities creating something from the heart.

I never had to take a crap in a cup due to lack of a toilet or privacy.

I hope there's a sequel.

[David Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drew Fortune did a fantastic job collecting, compiling and piecing together hilarious and cringe-worthy concert tales from an array of musicians. I especially liked the range of musicians here - rock, hip hop, pop, electronic, household names, touring band mates... Some of the contributions here seem more like lore than factual (Dee Snider’s especially).

Fortune specifically requests to know who doesn’t like Hey Jealousy or the band behind this hit Gin Blossoms. Well since you asked... I don’t. In the early & mid 90s I felt like a lot of mediocre songs got pushed into the heavy rotation by the likes of Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors, Mariah Carey to name a few.

Anybody who has worked at concert venues, at live shows or with touring artists or fans of live music will appreciate this book. Fun, easy read.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four-and-a-half. I've been looking forward to reading this for MONTHS since the author posted about it in a Ween-related Facebook group. My awesome wife gifted me this book for my birthday and I tore through it. Highlights for me were King Khan booping Lou Reed's nose, Ian Anderson thinking he got shot only to realize he was hit with a used tampon, Shirley Manson pooping in a cup and King Buzzo talking absolute shit on some of the major assholes in heavy metal.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun light read. Even if you don't know or like the artist telling the story, it's sometimes interesting to hear them talk about their feelings and failures. Not all the chapters are interesting. Wycleff Jean rambles about how great he is, Dan Aykroyd totally misses the point, Andrew W.K. just spouts some motivational bullshit, but most of the chapters are pretty candid and interesting in some way.

[Steve Schifini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been so much more with such a good premise. Some of the chapters are redundant. I mean you could just have a book on the insane thing Keith Richards snorted or the Soy Bomb guy who ruined Bob Dylan's 1997 Grammy award performance. This is a fun read but rock music is way more insane than just a handful of artist's worst gigs. Bonus points for Alice Cooper's snake shitting all over the stage.

[Andrea Janov · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there truly is a diversity of artists represented in these pages, I found the stories themselves to be rather lackluster and poorly presented. It was as if you had to be there, and unfortunately, most of us weren't.

[Chris S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and short.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light and entertainingly easy read. If there were more musicians I am familiar with I would have given it an extra star. But worth it to kill some social distancing time.

[Kip Gire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny rock and roll stories always are fun and read well... This goes on a bit long, and half are pretty boring.... it's a quick read....

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great collection of an eclectic group of musicians. Something here for everyone. The stories come in nice bite-sized pieces so it’s super easy to read.

[Matt Garville · Rating 4 out of 5]

The show must go on!

[Hailey Snider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly a quick and easy read. Just a solid book with some great musicians

[James Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the range of artists in this book. And I didn't expect icp but I imagine they could do a whole book themselves. Woop woop.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fascinating stories in this book, a lot by musical artists I’ve not heard of so it’s inspired me to seek them out!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many dumb stories.

[Shelley Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading the different stories from different famous artists recapping some of their most memorable moments. It gave me new appreciation for some of these artists.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and fun but not much to it.

[David]

Book (Scott)

[Shane Roch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind the curtain

Wonderful, in-depth stories from the road. Almost feels like you’re there backstage with the bands and the artists. Highly recommended.