Normally I run my mics about 24” apart and facing the same direction, straight ahead.
If you run that way I think you'll basically get a mono recording because you're getting the same signal in both channels, minus some cancellation. The only time you want your mics spaced that far (or farther) is if you're running omnis. For your cards, I'd say the XY will definitely give better results. Maybe try XY for the opener and something else for Guster? DIN, ORTF, etc...experimenting is fun!
I want to try and do a 90 degree XY setup and see how it sounds. Not sure exactly the right way to position them. Have two ideas in mind. If you are looking straight down on my mics: the mic on the left is angled 45 degrees to the right and the right mic is angled 45 degrees to the left. Or should it be that the left mic is angled to the left and vice versa for the right.
Basically, you want your left
channel mic facing the left-hand speaker stack, so if you're running XY, the mic will be on the right-hand side, facing left. And vice versa for the right channel mic.
That said, Guster's new sound guy, Gordon, was really helpful to me last week and it looks like he wants tapers to get good tapes (as opposed to their last sound guy, who was a nice guy but could barely form a coherent sentence
). He'll probably help out if he's not too busy...
Wouldn't mind getting a copy of your pull if it comes out, Kevin - got plenty of Guster to trade including 4 or 5 shows at the end of the tour...
--Dave