I've been there recently and just when the crowd seemed to want to get started some loud rock and roll would get blared, and everything would die down. A band in the background doesn't prevent you from talking to your neighbor about that great play, and allows the atmosphere to develop.
One or 2 songs, like Welcome to the Jungle can be used to hype the crowd, but 80% of the stuff does nothing to help the atmosphere, just fills time, IMO.