For the best listening experience at a small, open-seating concert, sit near the mixing board, which is usually about 100 yards from the front of the stage. That’s because the person working the board is creating the most balanced sound according to her ears, says Scott Ambrose Reilly, president of eMusic Live, a company that records concerts for listening on the Internet. At rowdy concerts, avoid the first half of the open-seating areas, and note the location of the emergency exit. When everyone rushes to the stage, there can be fights, crushing, and serious injuries, says Paul Wertheimer, owner of Crowd Management Strategies, in Los Angeles.