1. never, ever use the flash. apart from the fact that its really rude to have lights going off at musicians during performances, it also washes out a lot of the nice coloured lighting they use on stage.

2. always go for interesting angles. standing right in front of the singer means you get a microphone blocking their face. i always try and stand a couple of metres from the mic, so i get a clear shot of their face.. especially if they look down

3. closeups are good. anyone can take a full length shot of someone playing guitar. try to zoom in and capture the expression on their face... the movement of their hands playing instruments etc.

4. don't leave out the drummer - they're usually up the back encased in darkness, but they're part of the band too!

5. don't be afraid to focus and snap. a performance is so fast paced that if you release the shutter 1 second too slow you might miss a great capture. if you have a digicam with a multi-photo setting, play around with that