so i am trying to figure out what i need for the following.

so i'm building a band with that will eventually be 7+ people.

all the bass/guitars are going direct to pa, or mixer, you know, no amps with acoustic drums and horns

so i need a lot of inputs on this mixer/audio interface.

the idea is that all the instruments(no vocals) will go to the same board and out my PA and then out to the house as well as a laptop to record.

i'm trying to build a system that weather we're playing in a basement live, or recording live, or recording, or playing at a venue: were using the same setup

i'm going to get a dude or 2 who will kinda act like a front of house/almost-dj-like-knobtweeker/recording eng as part of the band

so hopefully i'm not being to wordy. i'm wondering what is the cheapest way i can multitrack mix, record, as well as go out to the PA and or house.

i have a laptop with logic, a sh*tty little firebox, and a small fischer price, i mean Behringer mixer. this lil setup has been good enough when it was just me, dinking around by myself. what should i upgrade to? i'm going to need 20+ inputs, and somehow into the laptop to record as well as the PA

thank you for all useful info in advance, and thank you for being patient with another n00b with wild ideas, that i'm sure will be crushed soon enough