Mandobart, I have had similar experiences. About a week before a gig I try to play through everything on my list a couple of times, playing every day. Each pass takes about four hours, including the finger style instrumentals. If there isn't time to do that, then I stick with the more "bomb proof" familiar tunes - the ones I can do in my sleep. Most often I pass out copies of my song list and let the audience call out titles. They get more direct involvement and that saves me the trouble of working up a specific set list.
What I often find is that a song I have been actively learning/working on lately is the one most likely to trip up. But the song I maybe haven't played at all in a couple of years (not on the list) goes flawlessly..... go figure. Short term vs. long term memory is a funny thing.
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