Disappointment in Grand Prairie

[TexMetal4JC]

After driving 3.5 hours from our house in San Angelo to pick up my wife's brother in New Braunfels, and driving another 3 hours to Grand Pairie to see the last date of Shoutfest, then sitting through 6 hours of bands we didn't care too much about (although a couple weren't bad, and Tait was impressive), the tour manager got up on stage and said impending rain/wind/lightning was forcing him to cancel the show... with only Petra left to play.

I would have been a lot more understanding if so much of the show hadn't been taken up by intermissions filled with annoying teens and 20-somethings pitching stuff (figuratively and literally) to the handful of people who actually attended. Several times, it was obvious to everyone but the speaker, who was obviously enjoying the sound of his or her voice, that the next band was ready to sound-check or play but couldn't. The delays ended up being costly.

The forecast called for rain all day -- it sprinkled a few times, and the wind had been strong the entire show -- and lightning had been flashing to the north ever since night fell two hours before the cancellation. Either it's too dangerous to play when you first see lightning at 7 pm -- before Jump 5, Rachel Lampa and Tait -- or you look at the forecast and pull one or two lower-bill bands so the Top 4 or 5 can be sure to get on stage. After all, those are the bands the audience paid $20 each to see.

The third problem was that Petra played last. It's a wonderful show of respect, and I was excited (I remember when they were opening for Newsboys not long ago). But by the time the Big Bands were ready to go, it was apparent several relocations of the concert and horrible publicity (signs of bad organization that were apparent throughout the day) had limited attendance to no more than 200. And of the 200, more than half were parents bringing their screaming Jump 5 fans. It was apparent early that Jump 5 was THE band to see, and that after they played, only a couple dozen fans would be left. Only about 20 of us stood at the front of the stage to headbang to Tait. After he left the stage, we were down to about five. A reordering of the program to make Jump5 go last -- and thus increase the attendance of each individual act -- seems to be pretty logical, especially at a festival, where bands come and go, their setlists change frequently and their order in the program is fluid.

The weather excuse, while plausible, was certainly questionable. The tour manager was moody and angry all day, short with audience members, yelling at stage hands and otherwise showing all the symptoms of wanting to get the tour over with -- as soon as possible. The rain and high winds and lightning had been threatening for two hours, but no decision was made while a semblance of crowd was on the field. If 3,000 people had shown up, like they had in Mercedes, would the show have been canceled for "our safety"? Unlikely.

Anyhow, the guys in Petra were really great about the whole thing. Paul and Greg signed my CD, and Greg brought it into the tour bus for John and Bob to sign. I certainly am not mad at Petra, but the organization I saw from ShoutFest was abominable, and the way in which the decision was made (no warning that such a decision could be made, no offer of repayment, no courtesy, no logic considering the circumstances) was execrable.

But hey, I got the autographs, met the two new members and finally got a Petra shirt, so it wasn't a total loss -- except for the $100+ in tickets and gas.

I'm done venting now. Sorry. But it's tough when you get all the way up to an event, right up until the minute the event is supposed to happen, and it's riped away with little sympathy or signal that anyone cared about it -- that's difficult to take.

[Shell]

That's really a shame, it doesn't sound like it was handled too well.

[GLF78]

Bad news about the show. Had to post after seeing San Angelo. I made a trip from Minnesota to San Angelo about a month ago to see a friend. What's West Texas like in October? Well, cold and rainy when we were there. The locals seemed to like the novelty of rain.

A few few observations in the short time I was there:
1. High School Football really IS a big deal.
2. Some people are just like characters in the "King of the Hill" cartoon.
3. I wish we had Whattaburger in Minnesota.

Also heard that Los Lonely Boys and Bowling for Soup are from San Angelo. (I only know of Bowling for Soup because I have a 14 year old daughter).

Hope you can make a Petra concert somewhere else soon. I saw them in September. It was a blast.

Gary

[TexMetal4JC]

It's in the 40s here today, the coldest it's been since last winter, and it's cloudy/rainy. It's funny that you mention the rain because this year has been very rainy, so you actually got to see green West Texas, haha. It's usually pretty brown.

Yes, everyone loves hs football here. I could take it or leave it. I've found most West Texans to be subtly sophisticated in a slow, drawly kind of way. It's the East Texans you need to watch out for, hehe.

[brent]

I used to love the rain gigs as an engineer. I didn't step foot onto that stage if there was a hint of thunder (the though of having an afro and smelling like burnt hair and chicken doesn't appeal to me). The band gets paid anyway for gigs like that. They most always have an "act of God" clause in their contracts.

I was an engineer for an REO Speedwagon show. Tornado took the stage away. I was an engineer for a Bad Finger show. Tornado Took the stage away. I was an engineer for Junior Brown. Flood waters took over the club in downtown Houston. I don't like bad weather, and I really don't like my gear out in it. Can't say that I blame the tech crew, management or artists for not wanting to go on in the rain.

[SamScales]

Oh, I can imagine how frustrated you were after driving all that way and then having rain cancel out the ONE band that you came to see. At least you did get to meet two of the bandmembers which is cool.

Hehehe, I remember feeling how rain was a novelty for me down in New Mexico! We've been up in Wisconsin since September and it's been great seeing rain - but, it's been raining a lot and - now I am looking forward to some sun again, hehehe.

We'll be going back to NM this week to move up to Wisconsin and I've heard that they have had SNOW in Clovis and freezing temperatures. Here in Wisconsin it has been nice compared to that! Interesting weather, that's for sure!