Thanks, Nigel. Back in the day, we had a pair of Selmer colums (didn't everyone?) that we'd perch on chairs, beer crates, etc., and, thinking back, they did produce a good PA sound - never any complaints from anyone. To drive them we had an H/H guitar amp head (still doing duty with one of my old buddies), really basic tone controls and singing through Shure Unidyne III mics.

It all seems a bit antiquated now, but portability was pretty lightweight. Things got heavier as time went on (myself included:)), and now that portability is more of an issue, today's lightweight gear is a nice progression.