brother's band...first time

Well my brother had a small gig on saturday night so i thought would be a good idea to try and get some shots.

Now i have NEVER taken shots at a concert. So i didn't know what settings to use, flash etc...

Well i have tried, but they all came out "ok" So how can i improve these??

C&C much needed please

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oi- where's the drummer! We're always forgotten... lol!
nice shots- they look way more organised than any of the bands I know of that age lol they look pretty good; sound ok?
I think you did quite well; I have no experience either but maybe slightly faster shutter speeds- if possible of-course...

I think you were pretty much at the limits of your gear (assuming the xti only goes to iso1600). Your shutter speeds were really just too low to get nice sharp shots. Your shots were in the 1/20s range. My absolute min for hand-holding is about 1/40s at 50mm, but ideally you'd want around 1/80s or higher. You really need a faster lens like a 2.8 zoom or a prime for this kind of shooting. If you're interested in this type of shooting a cheap starter lens would be the 50 1.8...though it is quite cheap, and you'll need something a bit better if you really want great low light/action performance.

Another thing is that your subjects are often right in the center of the frame. You can try cropping differently or improving your composition in camrea using the 'rule of thirds'.

All in all, your exposure looks pretty good, which is really the hard part (to me anyway) about shooting gigs. You'll notice on several of your shots the light was coming from behind the performers, so the face was darker than the hair/other highlights. It's best to try to wait for those times when the light is on the performers face, but often times you just won't get that opportunity...lighting is almost always a battle for concert shooters.

Thanks both of you, much appreciated

I was at the limits really, i am looking at getting a 50mm 1.8, so i guess that would be a good idea. I tried using flash to start with but they didn't look "natural"

Just waiting for them to get another gig now, so i can try out new stuff i'm their "official" photographer lol, just a pitty i do it out of kindness and not for money lol.

Thanks again

ps. freco there actually dam good for their age (all being either 13/14), write their owns songs, and do some really good copies of classic, such as smoke on the water, etc...

bacchanal said it all... Fast lens helps a lot.
An other option which might be usefull if it's the only way to get a shot, is to shoot Raw, set the camera at ISO 1600, and underexpose by a stop. Then in the Raw converter, you set the exposure to +1. Gives you effective ISO 3200, with the added benefit you preserve highlights easier. You have to be unafraid of some noise however