As others have said, for ensemble playing an amp (even a wee practice amp) is essential but they can sound good and different to an electric. I must confess, having the acoustic at home is great. I probably play that at home more than any of my other basses. As an example of how they work live, this is us playing an acoustic Springsteen song at our regular jam and my Faith acoustic bass holds up perfectly well…
But a couple of tips… as others have said, ditch the phosphor bronze strings for some black tapes and get a Feedback Buster soundhole plug.