question on live recording...

[superfly]

I was just wondering, after reading about the show last night, is what they did typical for a DVD recording? Were people jipped, or is this the standard for such events. Thanks!

[sickasadog]

TV Studio performances are often "semi-live" but not always. Playing through a PA as opposed to massive on-stage amps is typical on a soundstage, but it is also happening in live settings. Geddy Lee plays bass through PA and has replaced his mountain of amps with household/industrial appliances to balance out the stage on his side, lol.

I think if they had charged admission to the show, one might feel cheated. However, this was a free event--a TV show taping from what I understand.

At least, this is my opinion.

[rossistheboss]

Yeah, I came from a mile down the road, it was free and I got to meet all the guys. Even though it was not a true "concert", i dont feel chumped in anyway. It was a DVD taping. It was a great night and icing on top of an awesome cake of being a petra fan all these years.
Now if I were one of the many people who were there from more than 300+ miles away, I might feel differently. There was someone from Norway there, as well as a few people from Canada who were sitting right behind me. I'm not sure how they felt, b/c this was definitely not a CITAS type concert.

However, I think everyone had a great time.

[fcollazo]

If you look at the Classic Petra blog, they have been referring to this as The TBN "Show" taping, not the "Live Concert" taping. So maybe they just wanted to have a perfect performance video, like they said, to send around the world and Promote the band, and leave a perfect image of the band.

[rossistheboss]

I agree, and in that aspect, i think it went perfectly. I'm excited for everyone to see it. Petra, especially this lineup deserves this kind of treatment DVD wise i think. Kudos to everyone involved.

[superfly]

Thanks for the replies guys!

[rexreed]

It's hard to say that faking is the common way to make concert DVDs. A lot of times if it is a "live " concert then they are actually playing, but they might go back later and re dub certain parts. What happened at TBN sounds more like a music video than a concert dvd to me. There are plenty of times today where a band will perform live and not fake it. Most of the late night talk shows have bands that are playing live- even American Idol has a lrge portion of the show that is live and not canned, and that show is actually live! So it can be done but I suspect the cost is much greater.

[DeSoto]

I must say, I´m a bit disappointed about what I read about the DVD-recording. Simply putting the CD on DVD wioth moving pictures like a biog music-video...I don´t know if I will purchase the dvd...I was a bit disapointed of BTTR as well. The old songs are nice but not that far away froim the originals. They do sound a bit more powerful, but thats it. The BTTR-Titletrack is not PETRA in my ears. It´s way too soft. The other new song is a good song. I like it. Thats Hartman-Style.
I´m afraid, they are killing the PETRA-Legacy with the years. Coming back is finde but just doing the old things in a new way, sounds to me to much like somebody needed the money. I was looking forward to the DVD, but I´m afraid it´s gonna be just a visual Album of what we already have downloaded...there was a good chance of reviving some of the old PETRA-Style. They just missed it in my eyes...PETRA should rest in peace or come back powerful, but not stopping halfway down the road...

[curt]

Hi DeSoto

I must say I agree with you.

When I first heard about Classic Petra I thougt it sounded like a great idea. After years and years and years and years and years with members leaving the band, new members coming in, replaced by other new menbers who were again replaced by other new members, I hoped Classic Petra would incarnate the end to all those years of more or less embarrasing performances, concert with hardly no audience, records that disappointed the fans (e.g. Double Take just to mention one) etc. In the last 10 years of Petra's existence I often thought "are they really just going to keep on doing this, until no one wants to listen anymore". The same goes for the "2 guys from Petra" thing.

I remember a Schlitt concert in my county after he had released Unfit for Swine. I had encouraged a lot of people to go there. He played a couple of song with some rather unskilled musicians, the rest of the concert he sang along to the cd's which got particularily embarrasing on praying man, since the start of it was hard to coordinate with playback music. There was a rather embarrasing break, before the "music" began. A lot of the people I knew laughed at the concert, and called the entire concert a joke. I myself, a great Petra fan at the time, was neither too impressed. I was diasappointed. Why would anyone known for such great quality make such a discounted performance? To make a long story short, this marked the beginning of the end as a Petra fan for me. I can't say I blame the fans for turning their attention to other bands. I heard Petra on the Wake Up Call tour. I couldn't believe the Sclitt i heard a couple of years later was the same man as the lead singer of Petra. Making such a boring concert in front of about 2000 fans. No wonder the fans disappeared.

From what I have read and heard about the new Classic Petra record (and it's quite a lot) I agree with DeSoto when he says: "PETRA should rest in peace or come back powerful, but not stopping halfway down the road..." What's the point in gathering some of the legendary guys of the band and making them lipsync to the songs? That's not the quality that Petra once was. That's not what made Petra famous and respected around the world. Again as DeSoto says: "I´m afraid, they are killing the PETRA-Legacy with the years." If they want to go on it's their choise, but in my oppinion they should go "all the way" or stay at home. We've seen more than enough of "the middle", "the easy solution", "the first idea that comes around", "the fastest, cheapest and easiest" when it comes to the history of Petra after 1995. Why would anyone want to go on with that? The title track for the new record, one of the "new songs" has been taken from Greg's solo record, they make a playback dvd and what's the next "great idea" going to be? Hopefully they don't make any more of these mistakes.

I don't want to take away anyone's happines with what is going on these days. If you like it, it's all that matters to you and be happy about it. I just want to try to explain how I feel. And if I'm getting a bit "emotional" or sound a bit "angry" it's just because I hoped Classic Petra would be a lot more, than it seems to be. Sorry to say, but that's how I feel. I get frustrated when (once again) I read about Petra fans being disappointed.

[rexreed]

jeez, and people call ME a downer

Thanks for the input dudes.

[Rocksoup]

Someone help me talk this guy off the ledge. Seriously though, Curt, I do agree to a point with the bulk of your post. I'll say this though, They (classic Petra) are still pretty early into the project to draw a definitive conclusion on the outcome, and I hope it doesn't go the way of their more recent history, i.e. the last 10 years with the exception of J&H. I'm not too concerned about the whole TBN thing. I know these cats can still tear it up live. I take it for what it is....a tv production. Most of the time tv productions are nothing more than smoke in mirrors anyway. Do these guys need to play to tracks? I seriously doubt it. I'm sure it mostly has to do with time and $.
I'm gonna wait for the actual live concerts before I make up my mind about it. I get you though....When you brag up a legendary band to your buddies, you don't want them doing stuff that seems hokey.

[Masada1]

I ABSOLUTELY and COMPLETELY disagree with both Desoto and Curt. I was one who was at the TBN taping and had to drive close to 300 miles to get there. I sat down next to the guy from Norway and had a wonderful time reminiscing about Petra as we waited 2+ hours for the show to start (we got there early). It was an amazing testimony to the endurance of that era of Petra that over half the audience had traveled 300+ miles to see them.

The show was wonderful...yes it was a mix of live feed and track and yes the stage volume could have been louder, but it is what it is. It was a visually stunning show and what I've been waiting to see from Petra for years and havent since the Unseen Power days. I was ministered too in an amazing way and felt more refreshed in the Lord than I have in a very long time. Greg gave a fantastic summary of why they all got back together to do this and the mission that all of them were committed to.

All this back and forth about Classic Petra being a sham or something other than what it is just aggravates me to no end. It's disrespectful to Petra...it's disrespectful to fans of that era and more importantly, it's disrespectful to God. Regardless of your personal feelings...if they feel God is calling them to do this...they need to be obedient to HIM...not members of the Zone.

I discovered something Saturday night. I met all sorts of people who had traveled any number of miles to see Petra. Only a handful were even vaguely aware that this board exists and those whoo were aware were not regular posters primarily because of the negative attitude some have here (I know, that attitude is just in our minds...even though virtually everyone that I met who only occassionly checked this Zone out picked up on it). Classic Petra WILL be a success...because God is in it. Or it won't...because He isn't. I believe that it will having seen them Saturday and had a chance to hear from their hearts. Either way, it is God who is responsible for the harvest...not those of us who snipe from the sidelines. The fact is...there is a huge group of people who LOVE BTTR and are excited about future of Classic Petra. To be truthful, I was hesitant to even direct people to this board for fear of what they would read here...a fear that has proven to be grounded.

I was going to post a review of this show and the pictures I got...but quite honestly...I'm just done with the Zone. No longer will I call myself a Pethead. I am and forever will be a fan of Petra in whatever version exists...but I have finally after 10 + years reached my tolerance limit. Bless all of you that I've met over the years. I wish you continued success in whatever you find yourself doing.

Eric

[rexreed]

Someone help me talk this guy off the ledge. Seriously though, Curt, I do agree to a point with the bulk of your post. I'll say this though, They (classic Petra) are still pretty early into the project to draw a definitive conclusion on the outcome, and I hope it doesn't go the way of their more recent history, i.e. the last 10 years with the exception of J&H. I'm not too concerned about the whole TBN thing. I know these cats can still tear it up live. I take it for what it is....a tv production. Most of the time tv productions are nothing more than smoke in mirrors anyway. Do these guys need to play to tracks? I seriously doubt it. I'm sure it mostly has to do with time and $.
I'm gonna wait for the actual live concerts before I make up my mind about it. I get you though....When you brag up a legendary band to your buddies, you don't want them doing stuff that seems hokey.

A couple things in Petra's favor regarding the music video disguised as a concert. It's TBN, and that should say enough. It has to be the hokiest channel out there, but at least it is out there and decided to give Petra a special. Where else is Petra going to reach the people that fit the Petra demo? I clearly am NOT the TBN demo but I suspect a lot of TBN viewers might want to buy a cd or go see a show from this "new phenomenon " of Christians who play rock and roll.

And to anyone that works at TBN or is a member of the Crouch family (I know, one in the same) I do not mean to hurt your feelings when I describe your network as Hokey. It is the nicest term I can think of at the moment. I do sometimes watch TBN.

[rexreed]

I was just wondering, after reading about the show last night, is what they did typical for a DVD recording? Were people jipped, or is this the standard for such events. Thanks!

I don't think you were jipped, but if you think you were jipped then you should see about getting your money back

[Rocksoup]

I don't think you were jipped, but if you think you were jipped then you should see about getting your money back

Nice. I contacted management about how disappointed I was with the show, even though I didn't go to it. They told me to expect a check in the mail for the amount of $0.00 within the next 7-10 business days. It's part of the "double your money back guarantee" promo they were running for offering the free show.