Went down to a Battle of the bands in Orlando last week. 4 bands went on, each with a totally different sound and varying quality of gear.
First band had an amazing vocalist but the instruments were sloppy and their cheap gear made it so you couldn't really understand what was going on. The vocals drove the band and the crowd was still very impressed.
The second band, had an amazing guitarist and everyone was tight and had amazing gear--they're songwriting was very out of touch and the crowd was bored.
The third band went on and used the amps the venue provided (a marshall tsl combo and a fender frontman combo) -- They put on a perfect performance and although the sound quality and the musicianship was so-so, you could understand what they were doing and it made sense. They won.
Gear plays a part, but so does a lot of other shit. A professional performance comes from professionals doing professional stuff.
If a band goes on stage with killer live rig and bores me-- all I'm going to be thinking about is how this band should give me their stuff. Sadly, it happens a lot these days.
