As you already explained really well, there are no problem reg. timings, strumming patterns or any skill based issues with the guitar play of Alex. On his IG account he played some really good stuff by David Gilmour. And that was one of the most difficult and the finest at the same time. So I would be surprised if he systematically plays a song tonally wrong all the time. I've never noticed or heard him get the chords wrong on Catalyst....
But that brings us to the real problem. As you said at the beginning, you often don't hear Alex or Mike's guitar at all. Even Emily's Stratocaster on OEA can't really be located at all. The whole acoustic focus is on Mr. Joe, Colin and the vocals. I think there are several problems, but they are only indirectly the guitarist's responsibility.
IMHO the soundmix is still a challenge. Since none of the guitarists play via a pedalboard and the guitar signal goes directly into the sound system via radio transmitters and guitar sound modelers, they have to rely entirely on the remote -haven't seen any miked amp so far. The sound engineer may have difficulty mixing all the instruments in a balanced way, especially in real time. Your position in the venue will affect what you hear. In What I've done, you can clearly hear that Alex is playing on the front pickup of his Stratocaster - but it sounds really bland. Normally, with the right SoundMix setting and positioning, you'll hear a full-bodied, valvish sound. It's unmistakable. In OEA, Emily is constantly turning the volume control on her Stratocaster, perhaps changing something in her in-ear monitoring, but not what we hear. In DeadSara, she always played without in-ear monitoring and her guitars went directly into the amp, where the sound then went into the respective PA via the microphone. The audience and the band's monitor speakers were then fed from here.
If you think about the fact that only 6 months have passed since the comeback and nothing for several years before that, then there is certainly still room for improvement in the interaction of all components. Moreover - the whole world is watching and listening to Emily's vocals, nothing seems to be more important, nothing has higher priority than getting even the smallest semitone right. Perhaps this also has an effect on the sound mixing.
I believe that the overall sound will improve over the course of the tour as the sound engineers, guitarists and vocalists learn. Maybe our feedback from the community will get through to them and give them an impulse to improve certain things.
