Nice story, and all, Donny, but what has this got to do with performing..? Other than a school outing, when have you ever been to a live performance of ANY musical ensemble where they darken the entire hall and you have to GUESS what is playing?

You hear a harp arpeggio, and you WATCH the harp guy play it. You hear the tympani, you SEE the guy play it. You hear a great drum solo, you SEE the guy playing it.

A good enough stereo, and you can do exactly the same thing at home. Turn out the lights, listen to a CD. But you wouldn't go to a live performance and WANT to do that, would you?

I think the audience WANTS to see what they are hearing. Let the machines do most of it, and you ARE getting close to that 'hall in the dark'. And they can stay at home and do THAT!

To my mind, there's a HUGE difference between playing a great 'fake' sax part, where the audience can see you making all the bends, playing all the notes, getting 'into' the part (all part of showmanship, eh, Donny?) and hitting 'Ending 4' and hearing one come out of the speakers, all disembodied and stuff...

I'm sorry, but the only audience that doesn't care either way is the same audience that would be just as happy if no-one was up there at all! Or just a DJ, or a guy lip-synching... and I for one don't want to be that guy