The typical situation when something drops out is you trouble shoot the signal path - check the amp and cables... both were fine. Pickups typically do not drop out like that unless they are active and need a battery change
NONE of us had any reason to think otherwise (and they were usijng their own crew, so we just troubleshot the stage stuff).
Jon's own tech took it apart after we noticed the pickups looked melted and there was a metallic and plastic smell coming off the guitar
They were Johns signature model Icebuckers (I forget the manufacturer.. ED: WCR - great pickups) - passives, not actives.. NONE of us - probably a collective 100+ yrs of gear experience - had ever seen that
@ Chris - cuz no one looked at the pickups til the guitar came off stage
John kind of calmed down a little after he realized it wasn't the fest fault, nor his amp. Still wasn't happy, but understood that at least it wasn't a fkup