Hey, I'm Aaron — a full-time gigging solo acoustic musician based in Surrey. I play over 300 pub and venue gigs a year, and over time you really do learn which songs reliably work in a pub room and which ones only ever look good on paper.
This is my actual working list. Fifty songs that have earned their place across hundreds of pub gigs — from sleepy Sunday afternoons to packed Saturday nights and everything in between. If you're another gigging acoustic musician looking for a refresh, feel free to nick whichever ones look right for your room.
The unshakeable top 10
These are the songs that never let me down. If I'm playing a brand new venue for the first time and I want to guarantee the room hangs with me, these are the ones I reach for.
- Can't Help Falling In Love — Elvis Presley
- Wonderwall — Oasis
- Stand By Me — Ben E King
- Shotgun — George Ezra
- Brown Eyed Girl — Van Morrison
- Mr Brightside — The Killers
- Tennessee Whiskey — Chris Stapleton
- Valerie — Amy Winehouse / The Zutons
- Ho Hey — The Lumineers
- (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay — Otis Redding
90s and 2000s sing-alongs
Songs the whole room shouts the chorus to, no matter who's in it.
- Champagne Supernova — Oasis
- Use Somebody — Kings of Leon
- Chasing Cars — Snow Patrol
- Save Tonight — Eagle-Eye Cherry
- Stacy's Mom — Fountains of Wayne
- Take Me Out — Franz Ferdinand
- Teenage Dirtbag — Wheatus
- Dakota — Stereophonics
- The Day We Caught The Train — Ocean Colour Scene
- I'm Yours — Jason Mraz
Classic crowd-pleasers
The songs that span every age group and never get tired — classic, but not the obvious picks everyone else plays.
- Don't Let Me Down — The Beatles
- Hotel California — Eagles
- Free Fallin' — Tom Petty
- Ring Of Fire — Johnny Cash
- Piano Man — Billy Joel
- I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues — Elton John
- Summer Of '69 — Bryan Adams
- Always — Bon Jovi
- Faith — George Michael
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love — Queen
Modern pub favourites
Songs from the last fifteen years or so that consistently land.
- Riptide — Vance Joy
- Maybe Tomorrow — Stereophonics
- Sing — Travis
- Wake Me Up — Avicii
- Hey There Delilah — Plain White T's
- Better Together — Jack Johnson
- She Moves In Her Own Way — The Kooks
- Watermelon Sugar — Harry Styles
- Nice To Meet You — Myles Smith
- Save Your Tears — The Weeknd
The rescue list
If the room has gone a bit quiet, or the energy has dropped, or it's the end of the night and you need one more proper winner — these are the ten I reach for to bring the room back.
- Don't Stop Believin' — Journey
- I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) — The Proclaimers
- Country Roads — John Denver
- Wagon Wheel — Old Crow Medicine Show / Darius Rucker
- American Pie — Don McLean
- Sweet Caroline — Neil Diamond
- Sex On Fire — Kings of Leon
- Don't Look Back In Anger — Oasis
- Maggie May — Rod Stewart
- Town Called Malice — The Jam
Bonus: the unexpected ones
On paper these shouldn't work in a pub. In the room, they go off. Drop one in when the night needs a surprise — half the fun is the look on people's faces when they realise what you're playing.
- Go Your Own Way — Fleetwood Mac
- Mysterious Girl — Peter Andre
- I Want It That Way — Backstreet Boys
- Never Gonna Give You Up — Rick Astley
- Somewhere Only We Know — Keane
- Budapest — George Ezra
- Come Together — The Beatles
- Take It Easy — Eagles
- Naive — The Kooks
- Hi Ho Silver Lining — Jeff Beck
How I'd actually use a list like this
Three things I'd suggest if you're building a pub set from a list like this — speaking from experience, not from an SEO blog.
1. Don't play them in this order. Front-load your most recognisable songs in the first thirty minutes to hook the room. Save the rescue songs for when you actually need them — they're a lot less powerful if you've already played them.
2. Learn them in the original key where you can. Nothing tanks a sing-along faster than a pub crowd struggling to reach a note because you've shifted the song two keys down to make it easier on yourself. If you can sing Wonderwall in Oasis's key, do it.
3. Leave room for requests. I always leave at least six gaps in my set for whatever the room asks for on the night. A good request played well is worth three prepared songs — every single time.
If you run a pub in the south-east UK and you'd like to book me in, drop me a line at aaronnortonuk@gmail.com. Recurring slots, one-offs, summer-evening gigs, all welcome.
See you out there ❤️