I'm always up front. I use a pair of stands and extensions that I've cobbled together. One of the stands is a vocal-type mic stand that I cut in half. The other is a short kickdrum stand. Both are folding tripod stands. I have them adapted for 3/8-16 thread, which is the smaller thread set for mics. The extensions are 3/8-16 all-thread rod from the hardware store, with female thread rod connetors to provide a female thread for attaching the extensions. The extensions range from 6" to 3'. The 3/8-16 extensions are a fairly small diameter, and help keeps things low profile.
THe stand that I cut in half is a 2'->4' stand w/o any extensions, and can go to 7' with a single extension. The kickdrum stand is short, and only extends from base height of maybe 6" to 1'. With the extensions, can go to 4' or 5' and be stable.