Tips on photographing a small outdoor gig?

I've been asked to shoot a small gig next week that some friends of mine will be playing at. The trouble is, I've never done anything like this before and would love some tips.

The band will be probably playing outside (evening time), but may come inside to a dimly lit room if it rains. Either way they will be fairly close. A few stage lights are available inside though I'm not sure exactly which kind, more than likely green or red. This could cause problems I know.

I'm by no means a professional or even relatively experienced photographer-I have a Nikon D40 that I use mostly for sports/outdoor activities (pictures of pets and horse riding) and general snapshots. These usually turn out quite well. I have a basic understanding of ISO and aperture ( assuming I'm right in saying that I should up the aperture for darker rooms?)

I use 3 lenses- a Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, which I think will not be helpful in this situation.
a Nikkor 50mm 1.8, I think I will probably shoot with this although I'm least used to it.
and the Nikon D40 kit lens, 18-55mm.

Any and all tips and helpful suggestions are greatly appreciated. What are the most important things I should remember for shooting indoors versus outside?

Out doors, in the evening unless you have plenty of artificial light I'd shoot with your 50… And then keep it on for the inside stuff if that happens.

You may still get some blur even with the 50 indoors unless you can get them to brighten up the place a bit.

Good luck. These shoots, I know from experience, are not easy.

Make sure the venue allows it first, and do the best job you can - neither situation is ideal with your lack of experience.

Aperture: Bigger aperture (smaller f/stop number) = more light hitting the sensor but less depth-of-field. So if you use the 50mm at f/1.8 remember that the background will blur quickly.

ISO: Higher ISO will increase the sensitivity of your sensor but too high will introduce digital noise. I don't know the D40 and how good it is at reducing noise.

Lens Choice: The 50mm will be sharper than the 70-300mm but you have to be happy with "Sneaker Zoom" on the 50 and might find yourself in the way of the audience a lot. Bring both and change as needed.

Lighting: With bands comes shiny equipment. This creates problems and offers opportunity for creative effects. If a light is in your frame (like behind the subject) try to position it so it's blocked by the subject. This will give a nice semi-silhouette and eliminate blow-out and flares. With stage lighting, white balance for Tungsten, or use Auto.

Shutter Speed: Musicians move fast, really fast. This means quite high shutter speed and more light requirements to freeze motion. But don't be afraid to go with a slower speed for creative motion blur on some shots. This works great with drummers.

Light Metering: In high contrast environments like bright lights on a subject and dark backgrounds (outdoor band shots) you'll want to be careful to have your cameras metering set to the center spot. If you have it set for full frame it will take into account the background too much and blow out your subjects.

More than anything, go out and practice on anything that seems to feel the same beforehand so you're not making ill-informed choices on the spot.