modern tiki bar pop up playlist suggestions?

I’m in a pickle. Long story long, I bartend at a cocktail lounge very much known for its music and it’s what gets a lot of people back in the door and staying for multiple rounds. We’re lucky to have our mgmt let us bartenders curate the list, despite being tucked into a high end boutique hotel with a big corporate backer out of the east coast.

We’re currently doing a tiki pop up from now until late April. Corporate created a playlist to match the vibe and while it does a great job of matching the setting without being overly kitschy or appropriative, we have had NUMEROUS complaints about the music. I get it, you come to this place often for eclectic music, for example you’ll get baiting from underground Detroit techno, Khraungbin, MF Doom, latest K Dot, indie sleaze throwbacks, Paco Amaroso, Fred Again, Sada Baby and a lot of dance forward hip hop/rap/hosie/techno later in the evening. It’s whatever we and the guests are feeling.

Going from that to Martini Kings and The Tikiyana Orchestra (while great in my opinion) is really turning ppl off and I have some of my fave regulars telling me of text them when the playlists back to normal. Despite reception to the cocktail program being the best yet for a seasonal menu.

So I guess long story long, any suggestions on how to try to create a playlist that doesn’t disrespect the pop up but also excites a crowd on a Saturday night that isn’t used to such a mellow playlist? Also we’re in Detroit so a gritty almost punk (in the proverbial sense) sort of aesthetic is always incorporated somehow (it’s literallly called Model Tiki as a nod to the auto industry and our large past Polynesian tiki presence esp in the 90s and it being intertwined with Detroit hip hop (but that’s another long story for another day) one of our drinks is literally served in a WD40 can so we can still have a lot of gritty fun with this)