40th Anniversary Tour 2013

[Boray]

BTW: The word "fart" is an Norwegian word too, and it means something else:
http://translate.google.no/?hl=no&tab=wT#no/en/fart

The same as in Swedish then

[sue d.]

Trodland, your English is GREAT! You have learned a lot...

And now we're talking about farts... lol

[zman7720000]

[GS.]

Alright everyone. I have to give you what I think of the reunion. I am a 21 year old extreme petra fan. I started following petra in 2004. When I got Jekyll and Hyde for Christmas. In my opinion Jekyll and Hyde is the best Petra album ever put out and one of the best in Christian Music. From then on I loved Petra. It disappointed me when they broke up in 2005 after they I've been following them for about a year. I felt that I only caught the end of a long run. After they broke up there were other good acts but the only one that came close was the Newsboys and they even fell short of petra. It came to my relief when John made a sol album and John and Bob did the 2 guys from petra project. I felt that I may be still seeing petra history and I was. I actually thought that that might lead to a petra reunion but it didn't. The next few years I felt were dry nothing new and I even didn't follow it much anymore but one day in 2010 I was googeling and decided to check up on petra related things and discovered two things Classic Petra reunion and new John Schlitt cd kickstarter project. I was really excited to see that they were not sinking into the dirt but were still out there. I immediately contributed t Johns Kickstarter Project and followed cp. I loved both cds and felt that there was still hope to see a full petra reunion in the future. Now in 2013 The version of petra I first discovered if finally coming back. I feel that I now get to enjoy what many older fans got to enjoy for many years. I hope petra comes out with a new rocker album and I hope they reach to the younger audiences. I feel God has big things in store for petra and I hope he uses them to reach out to all people young and old. I see all this complaining about what they are trying to do but you all have to realize what tallent these guys have and we are all blessed to have them. What I want to see petra do in the future is a new petra album a new Classic Petra album and a big Petra Classic Petra on the same stage same night event. I am one of the many who represent the youth Petheads.

[Preacherman777]

I think we'd all be thrilled if all of that came to pass. It would mean that everybody would get what they've been hoping for.

[executioner]

Alright everyone. I have to give you what I think of the reunion. I am a 21 year old extreme petra fan. I started following petra in 2004. When I got Jekyll and Hyde for Christmas. In my opinion Jekyll and Hyde is the best Petra album ever put out and one of the best in Christian Music. From then on I loved Petra. It disappointed me when they broke up in 2005 after they I've been following them for about a year. I felt that I only caught the end of a long run. After they broke up there were other good acts but the only one that came close was the Newsboys and they even fell short of petra. It came to my relief when John made a sol album and John and Bob did the 2 guys from petra project. I felt that I may be still seeing petra history and I was. I actually thought that that might lead to a petra reunion but it didn't. The next few years I felt were dry nothing new and I even didn't follow it much anymore but one day in 2010 I was googeling and decided to check up on petra related things and discovered two things Classic Petra reunion and new John Schlitt cd kickstarter project. I was really excited to see that they were not sinking into the dirt but were still out there. I immediately contributed t Johns Kickstarter Project and followed cp. I loved both cds and felt that there was still hope to see a full petra reunion in the future. Now in 2013 The version of petra I first discovered if finally coming back. I feel that I now get to enjoy what many older fans got to enjoy for many years. I hope petra comes out with a new rocker album and I hope they reach to the younger audiences. I feel God has big things in store for petra and I hope he uses them to reach out to all people young and old. I see all this complaining about what they are trying to do but you all have to realize what tallent these guys have and we are all blessed to have them. What I want to see petra do in the future is a new petra album a new Classic Petra album and a big Petra Classic Petra on the same stage same night event. I am one of the many who represent the youth Petheads.

Good to hear from you GS; We don't see many fans your age and that came on board via the JAH era. What other CD's do you have and like from Petra? It's good to have you around. BTW because we have so many different era's of Petra we have a lot of different type of fans that like different eras alike, so we do have a way of debating, but we are all in this because we love and support Petra.

[LivingRock]

Welcome GS, nice to see someone my age on the board! (I believe I may be one of the youngest here...)

[brent]

I too have been saying for years, that there should have been a Bill Gaither Homecoming version of a Petra concert with video shoot, with EVERYONE included. It was not in the cards. The cost of paying everyone for a tour would just be insane and far above the threshold of what is standard for a band that draws the amount of people it does. The closest we will likely get is certain individuals reuniting as their schedules allow for one-offs. There have been shows with Bob reuniting with the original pre-Volz Petra guys, that version playing without Bob, etc.

You mention attracting a younger audience. Artists make a HUGE mistake chasing a demographic. The best bands in history did not do this. They did what they did and it caused a change in history. Youth will reach youth. Youth speak the language, have the look, have the angst and all of that. What makes a great band a great band is doing what they do, and the music speaks to people both young and old. Take all of the classic rock bands and some 80s rock bands as examples. AC/DC, Led Zepplin, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Rush, Van Halen, Bon Jovi. Petra is that caliber and should have never changed.

What music did you listen to before you heard Petra? Just curious to see what your tastes were. Did you have exposure to Christian radio where you lived? Did you see the Christian music for sale where you purchased your other music? Doing some market analysis here....

[gman]

Maybe not, but seriously, couldn't we get all the guys together for one weekend in Nashville, or some other location, to do Brent's idea? Pay somebody to sit down with Bob and go over the music. That guy would be responsible for pulling together all the charts, arrangements, etc., and getting it to the guys. Are they not professional enough to practice on their own time, come together for the weekend, rehearse one day, film the next?
I'll bet they could do it, and it would be better than anything where they worked together and rehearsed for countless hours over many months.
Could they not get a decent draw in Nashville, and some folks willing to kick in some cash?

[brent]

Well, there is more to it than practicing alone. They need to be together. That was the problem for some back when I was trying to make this thing happen. I called the people that I knew would have availability issues, and when they said no, said they would need to rehearse, and then told me it would not be worth my money (because they were doing other work that was affecting them long term), then I got the hint. It is not a matter of professionalism. It is a matter of synergy, vibe, groove, etc.

The TBN facility in TN would be ideal.

The other thing is...it cannot be forced. I was pushing. Musicians quit working with other musicians based on a laundry list of things. It takes time for that list to be no big deal. The desire has to come back naturally so the music is good. We can sit in the seats and look at the people we want to see on stage and still be let down, because those guys will not re-create that magic of the old days on the whim of a phat check.

[executioner]

Maybe not, but seriously, couldn't we get all the guys together for one weekend in Nashville, or some other location, to do Brent's idea? Pay somebody to sit down with Bob and go over the music. That guy would be responsible for pulling together all the charts, arrangements, etc., and getting it to the guys. Are they not professional enough to practice on their own time, come together for the weekend, rehearse one day, film the next?
I'll bet they could do it, and it would be better than anything where they worked together and rehearsed for countless hours over many months.
Could they not get a decent draw in Nashville, and some folks willing to kick in some cash?

I would love it, but I just think there are too many factors against it. I honestly believe Hell would have to freeze over before you could get all the main or principle members together on stage or in the same room again.

[Markus]

I honestly believe Hell would have to freeze over before you could get all the main or principle members together on stage or in the same room again.

So true and sad for Christian band.

Take all of the classic rock bands and some 80s rock bands as examples. AC/DC, Led Zepplin, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Rush, Van Halen, Bon Jovi. Petra is that caliber and should have never changed.

Agree, but there is another point. Count the members of thouse bands. Regarding to wikipedia and a *quick* count:
AC/DC (11), Queen (4/7), Led Zepplin (4), Aerosmith(8), Bon Jovi (6).

Petra (23).

So do we celebrate 40 years of the band Petra or the project Petra?

[brent]

Because musicians are musicians, things change, people come and go. Because Christians bands have to have people that live it, or the band is in the weeds, people come and go. Only musicians can really appreciate what it is like. It's hard. There is nothing wrong with people coming and going. Sometimes personnel changes made it easier to change sounds and markets. Just because the guys were Christians doesn't mean that they couldn't change. I used to think that these guys should all suck it up and get back together for the fans. But, now that I have been edu-muh-cated by being around some of the guys from 2002 to 2007...I get it. It was unfair of me to expect things of them that no other band would/could do.

[Kirkman]

To be fair, Petra has brought some of this on themselves. If they had done the Farewell show and gone out with a bang (sort of), then I think we'd all be mostly content and happy with the musical legacy they left us. But having spent the past decade more or less trying to recapture their former glory is bound to have some negative consequences, and one of those is loyal fans becoming increasingly upset as their favorite band essentially drags themselves through the mud, killing their own splendor.

Perfectly said.

I admit, I've pretty much been out of the loop Petra-wise since the Farewell tour. I bought Back to the Rock and checked the website for tour dates a couple times ... but when I did, things were really squishy (only a few dates). Seems like Classic Petra did eventually do some solid touring, which is great.

I think all these permutations of the band (earlier in this thread it was referred to as the "extended Petra family") only hurt their legacy. If Petra fans are like Trekkies, then I wish Petra had taken a cue from Trek and just *stopped* for a while. If they wanted to come back after a decent break, then do it with *one* big unified effort: a new album with new material from a consistent lineup.

But the different lineups ("classic," "farewell," "reunion," "whole wheat," etc) and the "new" albums (which consist mostly of old songs), followed by "remastered" albums, etc...

Yeah, they are killing their own splendor.

[brent]

To be fair, Petra has brought some of this on themselves. If they had done the Farewell show and gone out with a bang (sort of), then I think we'd all be mostly content and happy with the musical legacy they left us. But having spent the past decade more or less trying to recapture their former glory is bound to have some negative consequences, and one of those is loyal fans becoming increasingly upset as their favorite band essentially drags themselves through the mud, killing their own splendor.

Perfectly said.

I admit, I've pretty much been out of the loop Petra-wise since the Farewell tour. I bought Back to the Rock and checked the website for tour dates a couple times ... but when I did, things were really squishy (only a few dates). Seems like Classic Petra did eventually do some solid touring, which is great.

I think all these permutations of the band (earlier in this thread it was referred to as the "extended Petra family") only hurt their legacy. If Petra fans are like Trekkies, then I wish Petra had taken a cue from Trek and just *stopped* for a while. If they wanted to come back after a decent break, then do it with *one* big unified effort: a new album with new material from a consistent lineup.

But the different lineups ("classic," "farewell," "reunion," "whole wheat," etc) and the "new" albums (which consist mostly of old songs), followed by "remastered" albums, etc...

Yeah, they are killing their own splendor.

When are we going to get a "Like" button?
Nice to see you here. How many kids do you have now? Are you still writing?