What's the point of 100 watt amps?

[NWBasser]

Is this similar, in a sense, to why deep bass woodwind instruments tend to be huge; such as in huge bass or baritone saxiphones? And in the case of drums, the need for a large bass drum instead of just tuning down a smaller tom for instance?

Further examples would include jumbo acoustic guitars and of course the double bass!

One aspect that hasn't really been addressed though is how a thumpy and bassy guitar sound affects the whole band mix. In my experience, some awesome tones that sound great on their own can be disastrous in a band setting with other instruments. For example, a mid-scooped bass tone sounds sweet on its own but is a cloak of sonic invisibilty when put into a band context.