Originally Posted by: Vegas WierdoWhen did that all start to change? .......

.....................
90% of the time I go to these low-down holes-in-the-wall... where these dudes are blasting half stacks (and oftentimes full stacks, just because they can) in a place where the opposing wall is twenty feet from the stage and there's thirty people standing around on the floor. ........

Personally I'd blame that on the musicians going overkill for the setting they are in. Not that they have much choice, amps tend to come in two flavors IMHO.... practice & blow your face out. I've been to arena shows where the guitars & vocals get drowned in the drums....major acts. Lots of times you might get a no name local act doing a gig at a small club. So they show up with 100W Marshall tube stacks for the guitars. The **** is just way too loud for the venue because they can't get the right tone unless they run the amp at 12. Nothing totally wrong with it, that's the way of rock & roll.