The simple tunes are really good to dance to. Strong structure to get people moving to the music. I often use Winster Gallop for Galopede as a first dance. The 2 bar, 2 bar, 4 bar A makes it easy to go forward and back and cross over.
And yes, it's great as a novice player to play a simple tune at a session and have everyone join in and raise the roof. And maybe the people at the bar even join in and sing Blaydon Races.