More plugins do not improve live sound. Musicians provide 70% of the result; plugins account for less than 3-5% of the engineer's contribution. Each extra tool reduces system reliability without adding meaningful impact.
The other day I watched a video where an engineer showed off the sheer number of plugins and preprocessors he had installed, and how he connected everything via Lightning to a Mac to use that setup in production. It all looks impressive, sure - but there is one small detail: more does not mean better.
First, it immediately destroys the reliability of the system. (Literally at the last event, a small child crawled over and tried to pull out the power supply.) Second, it blurs the focus from what actually matters - you need to be listening to the room and concentrating on what is happening, not diving into a plugin inside a plugin inside a plugin.
We often forget that the people on stage are doing 70% of the work. We improve the perception in the room, add colour with effects, and that is it.
So the breakdown is: 70% from the musicians, 30% from the engineer - and within that 30%, plugins account for less than 3–5% of the impact. The engineer in that lecture admitted as much at the end himself. You can fill every byte of memory and push every knob to the limit - in a live performance it is overhead that only gets in the way. Maybe it works in the studio, but that is not my area.