40th Anniversary Tour 2013

[executioner]

For this being a 40th anniversary tour, have these other bands been around for 40 years as well or just Petra? I have never even heard of the other bands.

The sad part of it is, Classic Petra was starting to gain some momentum and now they will have to start from the ground up again. If they come back at all. I have gotten the feeling that Bob has never really cared much for Classic Petra. For some reason I have had the feeling he was just doing it for a paycheck rather than doing it for the love of it. When I watch him on stage he always seems uninterested. Now, this is totally just my personal opinion, but I think Bob probably could careless if Classic Petra continues or not.

This new tour is something I have no intrest in. Maybe and this is a BIG maybe, if they had guys in the band who have had a history with Petra, instead of hired musicians, I might think about going.

The momentum you are talking about was not there; I wouldn't say playing in front of 300-400 people on most nights is momentum. They had momentum back in 2010 and early 2011 but the original management killed that.

[brent]

Agreed. This is a big yawn for the US market.

[executioner]

Classic Petra is not going to do anything without Bob. I've been assured of that. Having said that, I don't think Dean is feeding me the company line. He's been very open and frank with me about what's going on. I know the up side and I know the down side. You can trust me when I tell you that he did not attempt to paint any pretty picture for me, but he also didn't go beyond the actual realities of the moment. There are some who will try to tell you that Classic Petra is already dead. All I'm saying is such reports are premature and ill informed.

I agree with Brent on this when he says talking to the company man will not get you all or the correct info that we all are looking for. Dean is still employed by Classic Petra and legally can only say what Classic Petra wants him to say publicly, and we will never know the complete story(especially in house) by any means whatsoever. I'm not saying Dean is lying but he really just can't say alot of things because of his obligation with the band. When you see a reporter wanting to get a scoop or info very rarely will they pursue their story with info from in house management but will pursue it with 3rd party sources and people that have some type of non legal association with the artist be it professional or even personal. Unlike management these people have no reason to hide any facts and the last place you should go and expect to get correct info is in house.

[Preacherman777]

You're welcome to your opinion, but I am quite confident that you don't know what you are talking about and that's all I'm going to say about that.

[brent]

Woah...I am not saying I know anything...because I don't know anything. But, what I DO know is how things have worked in the past. I know that band members have their own realities and see things differently. I know they say things. I have been exposed to this type of thing. I have heard events described by multiple people, as if the people were from three different planets. So, if the band members cannot have a consistent story, then it only stands to reason that the management is going to give management speak and deal with that.

If I were a manager, and I had a friend on the outside, and that friend on the outside posted on forums, and those forums were visible internationally, I would condition what I say. If CPs manager is saying stuff that is unfit for mass consumption, then that manager should be fired.

What I do know is that it is going to be next to impossible to get noticed and sell to enough people with money, in the USA, to make all of the parties involved a living. These guys cannot live on CP alone. It is impossible. Heck, there are really successful bands out there, playing big money gigs, with members just getting by. Most of these guys can share a van and ride around the country, eating bologna sandwiches. These guys aren't kids without obligations.

[Preacherman777]

Brent, I'm not saying anything I'm not suppose to be saying. In fact, I'm not really saying anything that hasn't already been said over on Classic Petra's Facebook page and what's been said over there has been approved by the band. I am only saying what I am saying for sake of trying to keep the rumor mill in check. There are things being said, to which I have additional insight and therefore can tell you, they simply are not true and that's all I'm trying to say. The official policy is not to respond to rumors and all I'm trying to do is help you guys understand that certain things are not true without getting into any actual details. Having said that, I have a feeling that even that is not going to go over well, so from now on my lips are sealed. You guys can rumor and speculate all you want to.

By the way, I apologize to Exe for the phrasing on my last post. That did sound a little rude. I just meant to say that I'm confident that his information is not accurate.

[brent]

Did I engage in speculating? No.

Just look at the projects on John Lawry's plate. He is doing King James and some others. He is out for a year or two. Boom. Done.
Bob is going out with John for the classic rock tour. Boom. Done.
Louie is not playing shows. Boom. Done.

It isn't rocket science. If they couldn't generate the numbers and bucks to make it work now, they will not be able to do it two years from now. FREQUENCY is what it is all about. No frequency? No success. CP is done.

The world is better off having CP come back. I am glad that Greg initiated the thing and pulled it off. Good for him. He is a scrappy surviver. Yeah, he is a lead singer. He might have Lead Signer Disease. Great. The best do. Without Greg, it would not have happened. So, hats off to Mr GXV.

As for Bob not looking into it. Yeah, I saw that. But really. Who WANTS to be up there playing old crap? Musicians get music written. Once it is recorded to perfection and pre-tour rehearsed to death, they are tired of it already. There is a reason for progression. There is a reason for not doing the same old thing over and over. IT SUCKS TO PLAY IT. It is not where they are NOW. I am so glad they put up with it for as long as they did.

I haven't spoken to Louie in a long, long time. I have no idea where his mind was. I know that he wanted this initially. All I can say is..."drummers!" Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em. I don't record drummers with the rest of the band for good reason. Bwuhahahaha. When I record Paul for the next PDC record, he will actually contribute to the writing. He has some great ideas. I hope of them spill over from his heavy metal days, because we want to be sickeningly, bone-crushing, hard on a few tunes.

John Lawry...they could have used backing tracks and had Louie play to a click.

That's all I have.

It was great while it lasted.

[Preacherman777]

Short and sweet, yes, you are speculating and assuming some things that are not factual. That's all I can say and the last I will say regarding what going on with Classic Petra. Now let's get back to the topic.

[brent]

nahhh. No speculating. Just seeing how things are on the surface. My comment about them being dead and done has nothing to do with their plans and their intensions. It has to do with their viability and economics.

King James has been in the studio with John. Their album was supposed to be out in the summer IIRC.

KJ is kind of like White Cross with Jimi Bennett singing, btw. I also find it interesting how bands continue to spin things on their bios. The JK bio mentions the Styrper members leaving because Styrper reformed. They left loooong before that IIRC....in 95. In more than a couple of articles, they didn't even want to do KJ. Well, Tim didn't. He didn't care for the music at that time.

[executioner]

Brent, I'm not saying anything I'm not suppose to be saying. In fact, I'm not really saying anything that hasn't already been said over on Classic Petra's Facebook page and what's been said over there has been approved by the band. I am only saying what I am saying for sake of trying to keep the rumor mill in check. There are things being said, to which I have additional insight and therefore can tell you, they simply are not true and that's all I'm trying to say. The official policy is not to respond to rumors and all I'm trying to do is help you guys understand that certain things are not true without getting into any actual details. Having said that, I have a feeling that even that is not going to go over well, so from now on my lips are sealed. You guys can rumor and speculate all you want to.

By the way, I apologize to Exe for the phrasing on my last post. That did sound a little rude. I just meant to say that I'm confident that his information is not accurate.

Apology accepted but I didn't need it I'm basically use to that from you.
Nothing I've said is a rumor or speculation; over the weekend I've gotten all my info from 3 outside sources, 2 sources that have an inside track to what is going on, and the other has a long time friendship with someone in the band. The weird thing about all 3 is that they all gave me the same exact answers to all my questions about the situation and none of these 3 people personally know or talk with each other.

I can't go into details about all they told me, but the few things I can tell you is John Lawry is out for 18+ months with his studio work and really doesn't want to do a full time tour or have the time for it. Bob wants to do the harder edge music and when this came about he jump at it. Not much has been said about Mark except that he might be doing something on the side with Lawry which I assume is studio work. Greg & Louie I really can't put what I heard out there except to back Brent in his lead singer syndrome theory and Louie is a drummer theory other than that I choose to say "no comment" on those two members.
I've said about all I need to say on the matter and will say 2 of my sources I've known for over 20 years and not one time has either of them gave me miss information, and the third I've known for 10 yrs and totally trust. All 3 of these people would NOT give out this info too me knowing that I would put it out there in public if they had any doubts it wasn't 100% accurate. The final thing that I have to say is all three of these people said that Classic Petra is unfortunately done.

[Preacherman777]

Apology accepted but I didn't need it I'm basically use to that from you.

And I am used to that kind of lack of grace and class from you. I apologized because I had not intended to come across as rude, so I did something about it. Unlike you, who as usual, said what you said out of spite.

As I have said, I am not going to be saying anything more about the Classic Petra issue. You guys run with what you think you know.

[executioner]

Apology accepted but I didn't need it I'm basically use to that from you.

And I am used to that kind of lack of grace and class from you. I apologized because I had not intended to come across as rude, so I did something about it. Unlike you, who as usual, said what you said out of spite.

As I have said, I am not going to be saying anything more about the Classic Petra issue. You guys run with what you think you know.

I accepted your apology, but it won't ever be enough for you; you always have to get in the last jab. You, me, Brent & a few others were having a very professional debate, but as usual you started in with rudeness & jabs when either the debate started not going your way or you felt like you were being ganged up on. I did nothing out of spite, I meant what I said.

[shawnpfan2010]

One thing I wish would have happened is Classic Petra make a short statement at the end of the concerts stating that they would not be back next year. I would have stayed after the concert in Tulsa and gotten all of their autographs, and even taken some final videos. They had to know this way in advance so they could have told the audience.
I am even more glad now that I recorded what would turn out to be their last big concert.

The Tulsa show is up on youtube if you haven't seen it yet.

[shawnpfan2010]

For this being a 40th anniversary tour, have these other bands been around for 40 years as well or just Petra? I have never even heard of the other bands.

The sad part of it is, Classic Petra was starting to gain some momentum and now they will have to start from the ground up again. If they come back at all. I have gotten the feeling that Bob has never really cared much for Classic Petra. For some reason I have had the feeling he was just doing it for a paycheck rather than doing it for the love of it. When I watch him on stage he always seems uninterested. Now, this is totally just my personal opinion, but I think Bob probably could careless if Classic Petra continues or not.

This new tour is something I have no intrest in. Maybe and this is a BIG maybe, if they had guys in the band who have had a history with Petra, instead of hired musicians, I might think about going.

The momentum you are talking about was not there; I wouldn't say playing in front of 300-400 people on most nights is momentum. They had momentum back in 2010 and early 2011 but the original management killed that.

When I talk about momentum, I mean they palyed 37 concerts and seemed to be getting booked quite regular. It just seemed like they were starting to gain some traction. The show in Tulsa I bet had at least 3,000 people.

[Preacherman777]

Exe, you accepted my apology but couldn't resist getting a little dig in there at me while you were doing it. I tried to take the high road and you took the low road. End of story. And not surprisingly, you are behaving this way even though I stated that no offense was ever intended and no one even called me on what I said. I just looked at it myself and thought, I guess that could be taken the wrong way, so I offered the apology in advance, just in case there was any offense. Hoping to defuse any problem, but I should have known that would not work where it comes to you. Any chance you ever get to dump on me is a chance you will never let slip through your fingers.