To Jerry of O.A.R.
Here are some concepts that other bands employ:  Rehearsals and soundchecks.  Paying customers should not have to watch you get "back up to steam."  As far as throwing your monitor guy under the bus, he would have set them to whatever you liked in soundcheck.  Assuming that was too low, have the techs bump them up.  I haven't been to a stellar amount of shows, but I have seen artists request monitor volume increases during shows.  Blaming your tech guy for your uninspired performance is lame.