to have had tickets to his last show and missing it takes the Randy regret cake. my brother had tickets to Woodstock and the roads in were so jammed he never made it.
i wondered if Gillis tone with Ozzy had any influence on Metallica going Mesa. the timing would be about right. i distinctly remember the guitar tech for Brad hitting a few chords during the final sound check before the show i went to and hearing it cranked in the arena without the band, it was the most outrageous rock guitar tone i’d ever heard and the reason you lived for live shows back then. lynch/ulak tour was the other biggie for tone.
maybe Carl’s point about these guys running in stereo contributed to the wow factor?