I honestly have problems understanding the issue. Had an open air gig yesterday, my soundcheck lasted 5 min (the drummer one took almost 30 min). Sound was phenomenal (stage and audience). Sound guy was a pro studio engineer, btw....
In my opinion this is really the only issue here: too many people that sits behind a mixing console without knowing what they are doing..
I think the other side of this is we are now very aware of our FOH sound.
Back in the day with a valve amp, we only thought about our on stage sound and then with limited options, so we accepted it and enjoyed the gig.
Like you, sound check is a dream for me. On Friday mine was literally a level check and done. The bloke on the desk wasn't particularly adept but the sound was cracking.
I get lost when people talk about high and low cut filters and 5db off 4500hz :).