The Petra Zone

curt wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 5:00 am

Diehardpetrafan:) wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 7:55 pm

sickasadog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:28 pm

Diehardpetrafan:) wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:23 pm

Honestly, if it takes work, go for it! Petra shouldn't go lazy here! We have to do our best for God, if that's really our purpose, and putting in effort if He even wants it to happen is the least we can do. That's my ten cents.

The only thing is that Bob needs to think about funding some sort of a retirement. It's not the time for sinking a bunch of money into a risky venture. Also, it could be a year or more before anyone will be playing concerts before a live audience.

Maybe they should just retire… sad, but better than seeing albums not many people are interested in.

I agree. I would rather see them retire than see them in projects that would not be very succesful. I will not rule out that there could be certain incarnations of the band that could succeed under certain circumstances. Getting the dream team, or most of them, to play those classic albums in their entirity could perhaps wake up some of the old fans who lost interest after 1995. But I am not even too sure about that. It really is a shame that they wore out the name "Petra" to the degree that they did.

The success (or lack thereof) of Classic Petra reuniting put the nail in the coffin for any other type of reunion. Besides, Bob already makes some money from royalties. Why would he want to front the expense to have just another re-record of the songs he is already getting paid for. It's just smart business. The fans are gone. The internet removes any excuse or limitation to finding any music desired, old or new. If there WERE demand, they would be seeing it hit their mail boxes.

brent wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:33 pm

Diehardpetrafan:) wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:23 pm

Honestly, if it takes work, go for it! Petra shouldn't go lazy here! We have to do our best for God, if that's really our purpose, and putting in effort if He even wants it to happen is the least we can do. That's my ten cents.

Well, Petra no longer exists technically. Since Bob IS Petra on the recording side of things, he would have to be the one to do it, fund it, etc. Since he would make little to no money in return, there just isn't an incentive. Doing our best for God has nothing to do with anything related to this kind of stuff. This is about money and the ability to recoup it. If Petra had sufficient demand, they never would have quit to begin with. But the reality is, not enough people willing to part with their money give a care.

I think if God wanted something he would make it happen; it doesn't look as if anything new is going to or should come from them so, they should just retire officially and have the old stuff affect people.

Diehardpetrafan:) wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:05 pm

brent wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:33 pm

Diehardpetrafan:) wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:23 pm

Honestly, if it takes work, go for it! Petra shouldn't go lazy here! We have to do our best for God, if that's really our purpose, and putting in effort if He even wants it to happen is the least we can do. That's my ten cents.

Well, Petra no longer exists technically. Since Bob IS Petra on the recording side of things, he would have to be the one to do it, fund it, etc. Since he would make little to no money in return, there just isn't an incentive. Doing our best for God has nothing to do with anything related to this kind of stuff. This is about money and the ability to recoup it. If Petra had sufficient demand, they never would have quit to begin with. But the reality is, not enough people willing to part with their money give a care.

I think if God wanted something he would make it happen; it doesn't look as if anything new is going to or should come from them so, they should just retire officially and have the old stuff affect people.

They did formally retire. There were press releases, interviews, etc. They did a retirement tour and produced a DVD. They all had REAL life reasons not to continue (age, family, time, money, lack of demand, etc). According to them, they believe God told them it was time to end. If God wanted them to be around full-time, he would have made new people like them, made the people spend money to sustain Petra, or given money to Petra, etc. But, times change. People change. Musical preferences change. The majority of music is purchased (or stolen) by people under 20. It is a fact that old people do not buy as much music or have the disposable income to do so. That has nothing to do with God's will.

They have done some one-offs in various configurations. Classic Petra came back for small runs, mostly to pay off the bill TBN handed them for the DVD. CPR came about, but it's not really accepted as Petra and it isn't active full-time. They do one-offs.

Petra is retired. All of them. The only reason things like CPR exist is because they enjoy doing it. There is absolutely zero money in any of it, but thankfully they don't need money. They just do what they love because they can. There is no pragmatic reason for it. But just because Petra is officially over, doesn't mean all the members just want to sit back and go to sleep. Some of them do, which is fine, they've earned it. But people like Greg and John want to be out there doing things, even if it means losing money. It's just how it is when you love your work.

Just like I continue to work on my music even though my last project was a $12,000 loss that about three people liked

brent wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:19 am

They did formally retire. There were press releases, interviews, etc. They did a retirement tour and produced a DVD. They all had REAL life reasons not to continue (age, family, time, money, lack of demand, etc). According to them, they believe God told them it was time to end. If God wanted them to be around full-time, he would have made new people like them, made the people spend money to sustain Petra, or given money to Petra, etc. But, times change. People change. Musical preferences change. The majority of music is purchased (or stolen) by people under 20. It is a fact that old people do not buy as much music or have the disposable income to do so. That has nothing to do with God's will.

They have done some one-offs in various configurations. Classic Petra came back for small runs, mostly to pay off the bill TBN handed them for the DVD. CPR came about, but it's not really accepted as Petra and it isn't active full-time. They do one-offs.

I did not follow Classic Petra that closely though I always liked the idea behind it. I have got a feeling that it was not that much of a succes if we look at the financial side of it. Am I right about that? I have seen some videos and pictures where I got the impression that rather many people came to see them, but perhaps that was not how it was in all or most cases?

curt wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:07 pm

brent wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:19 am

They did formally retire. There were press releases, interviews, etc. They did a retirement tour and produced a DVD. They all had REAL life reasons not to continue (age, family, time, money, lack of demand, etc). According to them, they believe God told them it was time to end. If God wanted them to be around full-time, he would have made new people like them, made the people spend money to sustain Petra, or given money to Petra, etc. But, times change. People change. Musical preferences change. The majority of music is purchased (or stolen) by people under 20. It is a fact that old people do not buy as much music or have the disposable income to do so. That has nothing to do with God's will.

They have done some one-offs in various configurations. Classic Petra came back for small runs, mostly to pay off the bill TBN handed them for the DVD. CPR came about, but it's not really accepted as Petra and it isn't active full-time. They do one-offs.

I did not follow Classic Petra that closely though I always liked the idea behind it. I have got a feeling that it was not that much of a succes if we look at the financial side of it. Am I right about that? I have seen some videos and pictures where I got the impression that rather many people came to see them, but perhaps that was not how it was in all or most cases?

It was a success to a point; The venues they were playing for the most part were small but they were packed for most of the shows. The European dates were widely successful with a few of the shows having 10k+, but the old attitudes starting creeping in with a couple of members and Bob & Mark both bailed because of it. Once that happened it was over. Ronny Cates came in and was there for several of the practices and found the headaches of dealing with Greg were not worth it so he kindly jumped ship before they could do any dates. i'm going to put it as simple as I can and Brent can back me up on this, Greg is next to impossible to deal with unless you are a meek person like Lawry. So the same ole story happened again.

Thanks Executioner

I seem to remember that there were some statements about tensions but I knew no details at all. It's really bad it had to turn out like that since showing up with something classic was exactly what the situation called for after years and years of different lineups.

I do recognize some if it from myself, though. This strange feeling that when you see these people you haven't seen for ages again they make you react like you did back then. Both when it comes to the good parts and the not so good parts.

Having seen some of the videos from back then I got the impression it really meant a lot to Mark Kelly to be back again. Must have been rather strange when it was all over rather fast.

executioner wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:15 pm

curt wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 11, 2020 2:07 pm

brent wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 11, 2020 10:19 am

They did formally retire. There were press releases, interviews, etc. They did a retirement tour and produced a DVD. They all had REAL life reasons not to continue (age, family, time, money, lack of demand, etc). According to them, they believe God told them it was time to end. If God wanted them to be around full-time, he would have made new people like them, made the people spend money to sustain Petra, or given money to Petra, etc. But, times change. People change. Musical preferences change. The majority of music is purchased (or stolen) by people under 20. It is a fact that old people do not buy as much music or have the disposable income to do so. That has nothing to do with God's will.

They have done some one-offs in various configurations. Classic Petra came back for small runs, mostly to pay off the bill TBN handed them for the DVD. CPR came about, but it's not really accepted as Petra and it isn't active full-time. They do one-offs.

I did not follow Classic Petra that closely though I always liked the idea behind it. I have got a feeling that it was not that much of a succes if we look at the financial side of it. Am I right about that? I have seen some videos and pictures where I got the impression that rather many people came to see them, but perhaps that was not how it was in all or most cases?

It was a success to a point; The venues they were playing for the most part were small but they were packed for most of the shows. The European dates were widely successful with a few of the shows having 10k+, but the old attitudes starting creeping in with a couple of members and Bob & Mark both bailed because of it. Once that happened it was over. Ronny Cates came in and was there for several of the practices and found the headaches of dealing with Greg were not worth it so he kindly jumped ship before they could do any dates. i'm going to put it as simple as I can and Brent can back me up on this, Greg is next to impossible to deal with unless you are a meek person like Lawry. So the same ole story happened again.

Huh... I thought Classic Petra was a financial flop, but it sounds like they might have actually had a good thing going that could have turned a profit. Too bad the guys couldn't get along because I would have loved to have seen an original album from them.

Maybe flop is the wrong word. There is more to it than attendance.

I spoke with Mark for a while after the TBN taping and asked him how it felt to be back in the band. He said that ever since he left Petra, he always felt like he had sold his birthright. He was thrilled to be playing Petra songs again, and he seemed genuinely happy miming his way through the songs during that "concert." Greg's antics likely proved too much and he decided to bow out eventually.

drake78 wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:08 pm

I spoke with Mark for a while after the TBN taping and asked him how it felt to be back in the band. He said that ever since he left Petra, he always felt like he had sold his birthright. He was thrilled to be playing Petra songs again, and he seemed genuinely happy miming his way through the songs during that "concert." Greg's antics likely proved too much and he decided to bow out eventually.

Mark was a great player, and his vocals were a welcome contribution. Wonder why he left.

Two members, attitudes, business arrangements.

It's not enough to "learn to get along" as some have said. Reunions give new meaning to the movie title "Back to the Future".

drake78 wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:08 pm

I spoke with Mark for a while after the TBN taping and asked him how it felt to be back in the band. He said that ever since he left Petra, he always felt like he had sold his birthright. He was thrilled to be playing Petra songs again, and he seemed genuinely happy miming his way through the songs during that "concert." Greg's antics likely proved too much and he decided to bow out eventually.

I'm pretty sure they actually played live. The confusion may stem from the fact that there were two versions of the recording released. The first one was essentially live vocals piped in over the studio recording (this is the same version that was on the DVD). The second release featured the live audio that was recorded during the show. I don't know if either version is available for sale any more, so it's hard to find any specific details. I have the second release which is definitely live instruments. "Bema Seat" even has a cool moment where Bob misses a note during the guitar solo, but he improvises and keeps on rolling.

Mountain Man wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:30 pm

drake78 wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:08 pm

I spoke with Mark for a while after the TBN taping and asked him how it felt to be back in the band. He said that ever since he left Petra, he always felt like he had sold his birthright. He was thrilled to be playing Petra songs again, and he seemed genuinely happy miming his way through the songs during that "concert." Greg's antics likely proved too much and he decided to bow out eventually.

I'm pretty sure they actually played live. The confusion may stem from the fact that there were two versions of the recording released. The first one was essentially live vocals piped in over the studio recording (this is the same version that was on the DVD). The second release featured the live audio that was recorded during the show. I don't know if either version is available for sale any more, so it's hard to find any specific details. I have the second release which is definitely live instruments. "Bema Seat" even has a cool moment where Bob misses a note during the guitar solo, but he improvises and keeps on rolling.

I do know that in Back to the Rock live they do change the way they play the songs slightly. For example, in the guitar solo in Rose Coloured Stained Glass Windows, Bob plays a few different licks which aren't quite as fast