When I've gotten the gate dialed in perfectly, along with some EQ on the low end, it does
absolute wonders for the punch and clarity. I usually just look at gates like a DI box for microphones. You want to narrow it down until its almost as if you're getting strictly the source and nothing else.
This really does nothing for you other than giving you better
control over the signal. One thing I have noticed is that well gated
tracks tend to react much better to
effects. Gate and add reverb to your track for instance, if your room is bad, or you just don't like
natural reverb and want to get the best out of your Space Echo, gate it prior to adding your reverb. The reverb will only react to what the gate allows past its threshold, thus eliminating the old "reverbed room" sound.
So in theory, if you gated the crap out of every track you recorded, and did it all perfectly, I believe you would have a very solid recording regardless of where you were. But in reality if you're already in a good sound proofed live room, there is no
reason in my mind to start incorporating gates unless you are trying to eliminate bleed as a matter of personal choice or upon request of a client. Live shows are a different
beast, with different end goals, and I could see using a gate more frequently, but once again I feel it would be situational only.
Personally I prefer bleed in my drum tracks, and would rather work with it than against it. If miced and mixed properly, bleed can work more to your advantage in my opinion. So to answer your question, no.
First I would ask you the question of how did you get to a gate on the kick drum? Did an issue arise, or is it just curiosity? If it's the former, I would suggest looking earlier in your signal path, or even the room, for a solution to the problem that's requiring said gate. If it cant be solved there, use the gate, and in any case, solve it as early in the chain as possible.