I think the perception of dynamics is quite different to what "dynamics" actually are. For example, when I was gigging with my massive pedalboard, my bass sound was extremely compressed. Obviously, if anything is extremely compressed, then it's dynamic range is greatly reduced.
Due to the fact that my thresholds weren't too low, I could still drop quieter for softer sections. Seperately, using different combinations of effects pedals to increase the overall volume before a limiter sounded miles louder, but obviously this was perceived volume, rather than actual dynamics. So, I could create the same effect as lowering and raising the volume of the bass (with my fingers), without actually changing the volume of what came out of the amp bass much.
I'm not sure if that's making sense, I just mean you can be a "dynamic" band and have an extremely compressed bass sound.