Best live band set-ups: drums vs cab locations

[slinglander]

Every band I've played with live has centered the drums with bass and guitar speaker cabs to the right and left of me, against the background wall. Sometimes angled towards the drums, most often facing the audience. That put me 2'-3' ahead of the speaker cabs. Of course certain notes and chords set my snare buzzing on its own. I've worn ear protection but not because of my drums but because of the high decible lead and bass guitars. Anybody have the experience of drums being centered and behind the cabs and how did that work out?

[truckerdrummer]

it is quieter behind the cabs, but to me they kinda sound like mush hearing them from the back. we try to keep the amplifiers as far back and in the middle as possible to keep the direct impact from the amps as far from the audience as possible. it's worth a shot moving them up in front of you if you want to try something different for your sake, but it might involve asking the guitar players to turn down... which sometimes can be difficult.

[weezy]

Every band I've played with live has centered the drums with bass and guitar speaker cabs to the right and left of me, against the background wall. Sometimes angled towards the drums, most often facing the audience. That put me 2'-3' ahead of the speaker cabs. Of course certain notes and chords set my snare buzzing on its own. I've worn ear protection but not because of my drums but because of the high decible lead and bass guitars. Anybody have the experience of drums being centered and behind the cabs and how did that work out?

It works pretty well, if they're mic'd up and you can get the right mix of them in your monitors. If they're not mic'd up, they can sound kind of muddy, like TD pointed out. However, it is workable. Open back guitar cabs sound more clear from the back than closed back cabs do.