I have heard that part of the business sense of the 777 (pax models, not freight) is the freight it can carry down below in addition to Pax and their luggage.
As to Boing NMA, I was hoping to see something at Paris this year, but the bad press from the MAX debacle seems to be overshadowing anything else. Exciting times nonetheless.
For a while now that's how big touring rock shows got the important backline stuff from huge City A to huge City B then off to City C in Europe. It's cheaper to rent local if you can, and load the high end gear that can't be procured locally onto the airplane than it is to truck your own stuff all over the place.