What's the point of 100 watt amps?

[Katastrophe]

Amphs started small, and wattage grew along with venue size for major acts. PA systems got louder, too, and folks started realizing that you could mike the amphs and keep stage volume to a minimum.

Jimi Hendrix had a couple of full size Marshall stacks on stage, and soon everyone wanted to look cool (like him) with those big stacks.

I remember in Austin in the early 90s EVERYONE that played rock had a half stack, even in some tiny clubs.

[Eric***]

Jimi Hendrix had a couple of full size Marshall stacks on stage, and soon everyone wanted to look cool (like him) with those big stacks.

This is my general impression of why people use huge amps, along with marnold's point about how sometimes the best-sounding amps just happen to be high-wattage.

However, I did see some interview with Joe Bonamassa once where he said amp manufacturers are always coming up to him, telling him he has to try out their latest 30 watt amp, and that he won't be able to tell the difference between it and a 100 watt amp. He goes on to say that he will be able to -- something like he'll take the Pepsi challenge and win. So that whole thing makes me think that there must be something about big amps that he specifically needs/wants, and that it's not just about the appearance on stage. Don't know. I could be wrong, but I guess I just feel like I might be missing something.

Maybe if I get some big-*** amp at the other end of the guitar cable sometime, I might understand. Maybe someday?