Wow. Thank you for sharing that Dave. 
 
Axe-FX certainly has changed a lot of things for live performers.
 
I've actually had the opportunity to play one live a couple of years ago, during a jam session. I'd played actual amps for the rest of the songs I was on but with one extra guitar player on stage for that one song, the tech hooked me up to the Axe FX.  The minute the music started, I did not hear or feel a difference.

I saw Fear Factory last year on a stage here in Oslo, that I have played on many times my self. They had two monitors in front of the singer, two overheads on the drums plus a hi hat mic and that was all the gear on the stage. Through the curtains on the right side of the stage four Kempers were blinking their little lights next to a huge rack with in-ear monitor transmitors, receivers and a drum trigger module. I have moved my share of amps and heavy stuff, tripped in more cables than I can count while on stage, FF's setup sure looked nice!
 
And I never knew that stage was so big...

180' stage eh? Well, if I had to be in Metallica, I suppose the ability to get 90' away from Lars Ulrich would be a bonus.