Here are a couple more tips that will help you get a good video..
1. Use manual focus. If you are set up directly front of the band, zoom in as far as you can go (the backdrop or the drummer would be fine) and set your focus manually. Then when you zoom out, everything will still be in focus. Also if somebody walks in front of your camera, your camera won't inadvendently focus on their heads instead of the band. Strobe lights can also affect your focus, so if it's set manually your autofocus won't freak out when the strobes start flashing.
If you are very close to the band or filming from on-stage then you can leave auto-focus on.
2. Use manual exposure and familiarise yourself with the AE settings. Filming in low light can cause grain in your video but there are a couple of settings that can alleviate this problem. The 'spotlight' AE setting is one of them. I prefer using the "sunset over water' AE setting, but note that you *must* use manual focus with this AE setting as it will go out of focus when you zoom in...
Once you have chosen your AE setting, you should also set the exposure level manually. If there is an opening band, wait until there's a particularly bright part of the show and lock your exposure. Then take it down a couple of stops, to compensate for the headlining band's lightshow being brighter. If your camera has a zebra pattern (I don't think yours has) then you can use this to prevent overexposure.
You can use the lead singer's head to set the expsoure level - as this is often the brightest part of the stage.
3. Turn off the digital zoom. Under no circumstances should it be used. If you're so far away that you need the digital zoom to be able to see the band, then you should physically move closer. If you're already close and you want to see the sweat on the singer's face or the fret board on the guitar then still don't bother with digital zoom.
Filming tips.
This part is subjective and it's up to you how you want to film a band...
4. Don't focus soley on the singer. It gets boring watching 1 member of the band for 80% of the show.
5. Try to have at least two band members in frame as your default view.
6. Don't zoom in and out constantly.
7. Don't pan too much. Unless you're using a tripod with a nice fluid head, then pans are going to be shaky.
8. Try to set up your camera at a 45 degree angle from the stage. This will allow you to capture more of the band and you won't have to do as much zooming and panning.
9. Only film the video screens if absolutely necessary. Most of them look terrible and you'll need to change your focus/exposure settings in order to shoot them right.
10. If the band has put in a lot of effort in their light show, then try to shoot it. This is where a second cam would come in handy. In fact, if you are open video taping then getting a second cam can make your video much better. The down side is that having multiple cams will increase the workload post show.
Well that's about all I can think of. Hope it helps. The best bit of advice is to go and watch as many audience shot shows as you can. If you want to see some excellent multi-cam open taping shows, then head over to
www.thetradersden.org