Lot’s of good responses here, this one is my favorite.
I see a bit of all those things where I live.
Stacks of vintage synths played live, DJ’s, Harps & Drumachines, 4-tracks with pedals, and laptops sometimes with controllers.
Seems to me if the person behind the rig is doing the best with what they got, people show respect regardless of “gear”
My personal philosophy for playing gigs is keeping my set fun and stress free for me to play. Sometimes parts of my sets dont require much talent or attention, other parts do.
Those choices have been made over time for maximum fun live.
As a fellow gigging musician, whats more important to me than what kind of gear someone has, is if they can set it all up in 15mins, do the show, tear down faster than they set up. Anything longer than that, you better blow the doors off the place otherwise it’s just rude. Nothing kills a vibe like one person plugging in cables for an hour.
This last bit is just my two cents, or personal wish.
If not the headliner, play shorter sets. 30-40 mins, 45 MAXIMUM.
Of course that excludes most DJ sets and if you’ve been asked to play for a specific amount of time.
Leave people wanting more of your best rather than giving them all of your ideas.