I have the Alesis HD24 and use it for a whole range of tasks - and it works great for all of them. What type of mixing console will you be using when you record live? Does it have direct outs? That is how I record all the live shows and then simply mix back down through the console later and burn to a CD. The HD24 does have a Fireport option - just pop the drives out of the machine and into the Fireport and you have a Firewire connection to a DAW. I have not used it - I personally like mixing back down through the console - but from what I understand it works well.
I just can't bring myself to record directly to a laptop - working with computers daily I see just how unreliable that realm is - but I took the jump from ADAT to the HD24's hard drive and have not had any problems what so ever in the year I have been using it. It also works real slick for recording multi-layered sound cues for shows where they are called for. You can also record all the sounds cues for a show to it and use it that way. I'd at least take a look at it....
IMO