Bad Lighting at Christmas Concert

Ok so my newbishness is getting better.. however... how does one handle bad lighting situations?
I know all yall are gonna say get a flash for the hot shoe.....
a guy with a nikon d2x (think that was it).... had a flash on top and he said he had really nothing good either...

so anyway.. what could i do better?
my 85mm was not a good choice as i was sitting in my seat and 85mm would get maybe 1 or 2 kids in the pic....

used liquify in photoshop as the kids are all 10yr olds.... mine is not liquified... duhhhh
so used my 24-105L
f/4
1/160
iso 2000
105m
no flash

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I cheated...

I donated a high-quality light stand and two PAR-64 based spot lights (1000W each) to the choir. And then volunteered to put them up at their concerts. So now the whole choir is very well lit for video & photos

Cost me about $300 and benefited everyone... Plus it's tax deductible

I've attached two stills from a video taken with my 7D. One before the lights one after (faces other than my son's blurred).

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In general, there's nothing that a hot shoe flash is going to do for you. The stage lights are generally very bright and your subects are too great a distance for a flash to add meaningful light . Short of setting up a series of lights right near the kids, this is one of those, that's just the way it is type of circumstances.

I might tell you to overexpose the image just a little bit so that their hats/hair are a little over exposed and their faces are a bit brighter. And, of course, you can always play around a little in PP.

ok glad it isnt me... wasnt sure if a better lens.. like a 50mm 1/8 or less would have been better....
but yeah at least we have some pics.... funny thing is my wife says they are great... she used her p&s and mine still look better but i dont like them... think yall are rubbing off on me...that need for a better shot!!!! HAH....

I would go primes. At a situation like this, where they arent moving much and you can play with shallow DOF and wide apertures it would really help. I would have messed with my 85mm f1.8 and my 125 f2.

Your pictures should always be better than p&s snaps. That being said, you will not always like your pictures. It happens to me when I find my pictures are getting a bit grainy or there are situations that I cannot overcome, I just remember that everyone else's pictures will be worse. Then I do everything I can to try to make mine so I find them acceptable.