I'm partial to omnis for a litany of reasons - many gutbucket posts on this subject have been consumed! I am always in pursuit of that time machine quality, prefer energy (and often in small-medium clubs, lack of rear chatter/bar noise) from the front, find that the drum kit is often lacking in PA mix, and to be frank, want to enjoy the shows too, which for me is being near the front. That plus the 'dollar for dollar value' has led me to primarily run omnis up close, sometimes running standard FOB setup as backup.
I have an interesting comparison to add to the mix - this venue is 250, not 150, but would put it in the same 'small venue' category-
Here's omnis (CA-14s!) on stage right near the lip center between two wedges, direct line of sight to all the amps on stage, mics inches from stage floor:
https://archive.org/details/tmg2021-08-20/02_Jaipur.flacAnd here's MK4s FOB (not mine, rare show for me with fellow taper in attendance, always fun):
https://archive.org/details/tmg2021-08-20.mk4.flac24/tmg2021-08-20mk4_t02.flacGood food for thought. Both sound great to my ears with different qualitative elements. The key piece that's often lacking with omnis on stage and no SBD to mix with is the vocals, but this isn't as severe in small rooms. For me, this is one of those time machine tapes. Plan was to get SBD for matrix but didn't pan out, and I really don't mind, which probably wouldn't be the case in a larger room.
Sorry to hear about the gear fail. Always rough. Just posting for the folks who may Google this however many decades down the line. Nice to be able to contribute, finally.