Bottle,
Hey, my wife will be happy about getting home early. However, it always makes me a bit nervous when there is little time to get settled up with my gear. Well, "so it is."
Being in the first 10 rows in December, it was hilarious to watch all the security guards try to quietly tell the fans to put the cameras down. The minute they did, everyone's went up.
I also called the venue the other day to see if I could setup recording gear (Damien is cool with it.) I was told that they don't allow recording at the venue and that they would drag anyone out. Of course, I don't think they would have any clue if there were 20 tapers in the venue tonight & I don't think the kid knew what the hell he was talking about.
Corey,
I do have some knowledge with the lenses you mentioned. You might want to see the following pictures to give you an idea of the Opera House lighting - for shooting. If you can, can you turn around and take a picture of the entire balcony (while the house lights are on?) It's good for picking good seats / placement to record from. I haven't been able to find a picture from that perspective.
http://www.pbase.com/greggerm/image/77595048 - this was Guster there last month. You'll notice one of the pictures along the railing has microphones setup (pic 2479). That's one of the reasons I called about officially setting up gear. That show came out as well as any recording I've ever heard.
Dave