hello there

My favorite human ritual is the unspoken rule that if you enjoyed a concert, you must clap without stopping at the end (if you were seated, you may rise to express further respect). The musician will bow, then exit the stage, but you must keep clapping. The musician must return and act surprised, bow again, then exit once more, and you continue to clap. Then, the musician will return and play one or two extra numbers (you stop clapping during the music) and at the end after they leave for the last time, you can clap as long as you wish but the musician will not return. It’s just such a cute song and dance. I've been to shows where the musician expects it (to the point that i could see their timer backstage that indicated how much time they had left for the show and they bowed for the first time with 20 minutes to spare) so they just go through the motion of pretending to end the show but the extra number is completely planned and we all expect it. Everyone in the audience is in on it but we all just do it anyway because it’s like a conversation were the audience and the musician are saying Thank You to each other over and over. Makes me feel some type of way