Canon 85mm f/1.8. good for gigs and walkabout?

[dave_bass5]

Guys
I thought i was all sorted for lens's but sitting here, bored at work i started to think about this lens.
I love my 50mm f/1.4 and have used it at a few small gigs and its been great but i have wanted to get closer and so i started to think about something fast and longer. Im not interested in the 100 f/2 as i feel its slower than i want and being longer shutter speed would need to be faster to avoid camera shake.
I never buy a lens just for one job but as my style of shooting is quite close to portrait style (head and shoulders) im guessing the 85mm will be great for that as well. plus i dont have anything in that range apart from my 70-200 so i could use it as a general lens as well even though its longer than a lot of you would use. Been using my 17-55IS a lot but i do find i hit 55mm a lot as well so a bit more would be nice.
But, as i want a gig lens i figure the 85mm is going to be great for all the above.
If i do get it i have to get iti before Sat as i have a gig and will have some friends there that can take some shots for us with my 30D.

Any comments?

Cheers

[chrisgeary]

For smaller, intimate gigs, an 85/1.8 is really useful. Personally, I prefer the flexibility of a 70-200, and the extra reach is needed for larger venues.

[dave_bass5]

Originally Posted by chrisgeary

For smaller, intimate gigs, an 85/1.8 is really useful. Personally, I prefer the flexibility of a 70-200, and the extra reach is needed for larger venues.

Thanks.
It will only be small gigs, mainly mine i guess and a few friends bands. What i would like is a simple way i can hand the camera to someone to use without them having to fiddle with anything at the gigs. For gigs that im taking the shots ill know how to use it (sort of). From past experience my f/2.8 lens's have been too slow so i know my 70-200 f/4 IS wont be any use. Also my son has a couple of school plays coming up and again, from past experience using my 50mm f/1.4 i know that will be a bit too wide for what i need.
I would also like to keep the lens on for just walking around with. I have done this with my 70-200 and i know its long but im ok with that. I prefer to get in closer than go wide a lot of the time.
The only thing that puts me off (apart form affording it) is that im going from f/1.4 to f/1.8 and a longer FL and so will need to have a slightly better shutter speed but im sure thats not a big problem