You already have some classic rock on your list, whaddya bitchin about?
AC/DC, Bryan Adams....
OK Seriously, I'm in agreement with JW and Rat here, listen to what the audience wants and give them some of that too. Play what you like, sure, but if the crowd's not happy you won't get booked again, so pick up a few oldies along the way. When someone asks for Skynyrd, you need to be able to deliver. ZZ Top, it's ready to go. A dozen tunes on the back burner can make a huge difference.
I'm not saying turn into a classic rock band, just be able to cover a few tunes in that style so the audiences don't walk out on you. But JW and Rat are right, you play what the audiences want or you don't play much. .That's exactly why I've been playing country for the past 30 years, and I hate country. Despise it...but in the places I've lived, you played country or you didn't play, so I played it.
Needle and the Spoon...old favorite there, band I was in learned it just to stay away from the dreaded SHA that was always requested. We did that one and Saturday Night Special, and a couple of others but refused to do Sweet Home or Freebird. We got by with it because we did do some other good tunes. Ditto for ZZ Top, we did several of their tunes, but not LaGrange. We were a classic rock band playing in country music land, so we did some Eagles and America tunes to keep the country folks happy, plus a few other tings, and they kept coming back for more even though we played primarily rock.
OK seriously now, you do already have classic rock tunes on your list, Summer of 69, Run to You, You Shook Me, Shot Down in Flames...all good tunes, and they would work well if you have some classic rock fans in your audience. Put about a half dozen others together and keep them available but not necessarily on the list, so when someone wants Skynyrd you have it. ZZ Top has done a bunch of great heavy songs that are not difficult to play, you're still playing heavy rock stuff and keeping the classic rock guys happy too. Add a couple more AC/DC songs. Aerosmith and REO Speedwagon might be possible, and I'd be willing to bet you could find a Zeppelin tune or two you could get along with.
Then go out and do your regular stuff, and when someone asks for that kind of thing, you have it ready. No reason you have to turn into a classic rock band, but some good reasons to have some on hand when needed...The dollar bills you lose when you don't get booked again because half the audience left when you didn't play any Skynyrd.
I've played as long as JW, longer actually, not sure how long Rat has been at it, a long time I know, but I've played bunches of songs I didn't want to, especially playing fill in gigs in the 80's in south Louisiana. Mostly country and cajun down there, it was usually variety bands, but almost always more country than anything else. I was rehired by the same bands a lot because I could cover anything they wanted, and a lot of the time I had never even heard the songs I played. I just recently heard a country tune, riding around with my sister, that I played 25 years ago and had still never heard until a few weeks ago. Point is, I was playing. If I didn't do country I didn't play, period. So I played it. Didn't like it, but nobody knew it, and usually the bands asked me to come back and do it again.
Nobody is asking you to restructure your band, just cover your a$$. when you get out playing clubs, I guarantee you'll have someone out there yelling "SKYNYRD" all night. Better have something ready to shut him up...and I don't mean a snappy comment between songs...
A good idea might be to go out and listen to some other bands and find out what people are requesting, so you can have a few things ready to go. And I think what was already suggested is very good, pay attention to what people ask for when you play, write band names down and get some tunes together to make them happy. thing is, no matter what you like to play, the only way you'll get good gigs is make the audience happy. that only takes a few songs here and there, they'll listen to your usual list, IF...and that's a big if...you play something they know and like now and then. Been there, done that...
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