To me that is the fault of the promoter, who doesn't have a clue as to what his guests want to hear, and he shouldn't be promoting.
I've heard so many stories like this, and have experianced it myself.
I was once asked to do a spot at a do to raise money for a soul fan who had sadly passed away. He had been a regular at my nighter and loved the stuff we played there. Trouble is, most of the crowd at his memorial do were firmly in the oldies camp. My mate actually had to physically prevent punters from accosting me and shouting abuse.
I would never do it again. It had cost me a lot of money to travel there, the sound system was terrible, and I would have been better off with a box of pressings.