Petra in Argentina - Dec 4th - Review

[separateunion]

Petra fans in Argentina are so lively.. there looks like there is 90K people at this thing and they are going insane!!! in the states people just stand around like trees and clap their hands on que. I would like to see this happen in the states (without alcohol)

Well they do here in the states for bands like Newsboys and Jars of Clay.
But I've been thinking, the music industry started dropping off on Petra as they started reaching the 30th Anniversary mark, saying they were to old and not reaching today's young people. Newsboys are somewhere around 22 or 23 years old now, so I wonder if the same thing will happen. However the industry hasn't done so with Amy Grant or Michael W Smith, or Steven Curtis Chapman, so I'm wondering why Petra was all the sudden not worthy of promotion but Amy, Michael and Steven are? If the Newsboys or Jars of Clay don't drop off the raidar by the time they hit 30 what's that gonna say???

There's more to it than just that Petra was too old. They weren't putting out much interesting music after No Doubt until JAH. SC2, MWS and Amy Grant are different because they aren't bands, they're CCM pop. It's easier to market them because it's one person and they sound the same all the time, which is what the radio likes to push.

[Dan]

Petra fans in Argentina are so lively.. there looks like there is 90K people at this thing and they are going insane!!! in the states people just stand around like trees and clap their hands on que. I would like to see this happen in the states (without alcohol)

Well they do here in the states for bands like Newsboys and Jars of Clay.
But I've been thinking, the music industry started dropping off on Petra as they started reaching the 30th Anniversary mark, saying they were to old and not reaching today's young people. Newsboys are somewhere around 22 or 23 years old now, so I wonder if the same thing will happen. However the industry hasn't done so with Amy Grant or Michael W Smith, or Steven Curtis Chapman, so I'm wondering why Petra was all the sudden not worthy of promotion but Amy, Michael and Steven are? If the Newsboys or Jars of Clay don't drop off the raidar by the time they hit 30 what's that gonna say???

There's more to it than just that Petra was too old. They weren't putting out much interesting music after No Doubt until JAH. SC2, MWS and Amy Grant are different because they aren't bands, they're CCM pop. It's easier to market them because it's one person and they sound the same all the time, which is what the radio likes to push.

I think that Petra has always had less of a cult type following compared to those artists, the biblical lyrics are too meaningful for people to handle these days in popular music that isn't Hill$ong. Amy Grant crossed over to secular when there was a cross over point back in the early 90's with Big yellow taxi? I think that was the name, and only came back to CCM when that dwindled off.

[bakersfieldpethead]

Petra fans in Argentina are so lively.. there looks like there is 90K people at this thing and they are going insane!!! in the states people just stand around like trees and clap their hands on que. I would like to see this happen in the states (without alcohol)

Well they do here in the states for bands like Newsboys and Jars of Clay.
But I've been thinking, the music industry started dropping off on Petra as they started reaching the 30th Anniversary mark, saying they were to old and not reaching today's young people. Newsboys are somewhere around 22 or 23 years old now, so I wonder if the same thing will happen. However the industry hasn't done so with Amy Grant or Michael W Smith, or Steven Curtis Chapman, so I'm wondering why Petra was all the sudden not worthy of promotion but Amy, Michael and Steven are? If the Newsboys or Jars of Clay don't drop off the raidar by the time they hit 30 what's that gonna say???

There's more to it than just that Petra was too old. They weren't putting out much interesting music after No Doubt until JAH. SC2, MWS and Amy Grant are different because they aren't bands, they're CCM pop. It's easier to market them because it's one person and they sound the same all the time, which is what the radio likes to push.

Yes but, Newsboys and Jars of Clay are Rock Bands, maybe not Classic Rock, but they are on the market as a Rock Band none the less. Petra Praise 2 was a very good album, the only album I think they really lost it on was Double Take, but even that album kept their name out there with winning a Grammy.

[rexreed]

MWS- from what I have seen his popularity is not nearly at the level as it was in the early to mid 90's. At that time his albums were getting heavy play on all radio and his live show was fairly state of the art along with a sweet horn section. I haven't seen the same type of show from him in a long, long time.

Jars of Clay- they hit a leadoff home run with the debut album. They opened up for MWS when he was packing arenas and they had 2 top 40 singles, not to mention manymore Christian Radio hits. While they are a better band than when they first hit the scene I can tell that they do not put butts in seats like they used to. They are one of my favorite bands. The last time they came to town they were an opening act for Third Day.

The Newsboys are still pretty popular, and they don't play any music before "Not Ashamed." They have gone through continous lineup changes including three lead singers and they no longer have a founding member in the band. The last time they played Houston they only sold 1/3of the arena. On year prior it was a sellout. Part of this might be due to the most recent lead singer change. Newsboys seemed to really peak around the "Take Me to Your Leader" album with a resurgence a few albums later. These guys seem to reinvent themselves pretty darn good. The last album had a stron debut.

I'm not sure Petra was EVER in a similar situation as the above mentioned artists. I can't think of any songs that were picked up by non Christian Radio. Most of the Petra I heard on CCM radio was post 86 when there was always a soft song. They would pack the house in the late 80's and into the 90's, but they never played at the best venue in Houston. They were always in the has been facility. The shows were top notch, mind you, but the venue was not. Jars of Clay, MWS, Newsboys (when they stopped being openers) played in the big time venues. So basicly I'm not sure the artists mentioned in the earlier post have a lot in common with Petra.

[fcollazo]

Can somebody please hire Christian already to be Petras permanent drummer! They should just continue. I don't understand, if they play to such large crowds in Finland, Norway, Argentina, Brazil, India, why can't they keep a viable ministry overseas. With the internet, lots of bands produce and sell their music online without the need of a record company these days. It seems like there is still a big global demand for Petra. Don't you guys think?

[St_Augustines_Pears]

Perfect World
The Noise We Make

Man, I would give the pinky finger off my right hand to see Petra perform these two songs live in concert.

They did "The Noise We Make" on the JEKYLL & HYDE show I saw, but had dropped it by the FAREWELL tour. I seemed to be the only one that was really digging the song...the rest of the crowd either didn't know the song or didn't care. I'll say it again...of the three Petra praise albums, REVIVAL is my favorite.

And "Perfect World" has become my favorite song from JEKYLL & HYDE.

[CatNamedManny]

I've noticed this, too, that the Petra shows I've been to, I've generally been the only one rockin' out -- headbanging, singing along, fist-pumping, etc. But I've also easily been one of the youngest people there there on my own (I don't count the young children of older fans). The taping was especially frustrating: Only show I've attended where the lead singer had to ask people to stand up. (Of course, they also asked the crowd to sit down at points, which I guess was a function of the taping, but still). So I think the crowds for Petra in SA are probably younger and therefore more likely to act like they're supposed to act at a rock show.

[sue d.]

Cat, can you shoot me your email addy? I wanted to ask you about putting up a different photo of John on his Wiki page.

[Preacherman777]

Well, I'm glad I finally got to see some better video of this concert. The one I downloaded wasn't very good quality, but these are much better. John sounds good. Definitely not as good as he's ever been, but probably as good as I've seen him in the last five years, so that's pretty good.

[executioner]

I think there are times when John's voice sounds even better now than in his hey day. His low range is awesome and doesn't get the deserved credit.

[jm.atd]

Petra fans in Argentina are so lively.. there looks like there is 90K people at this thing and they are going insane!!! in the states people just stand around like trees and clap their hands on que. I would like to see this happen in the states (without alcohol) my wife wants to go to Argentina, so I will have to line one of up a concert at the same time wont tell here my alternative motives get her back for surprise ballet and Ikea trips ahh I love my wife!

Brother... if you decide to come to the "pampas" contact me...

[givamu]

Judging from what I see, this one has a good chance to make it to production.

Here are a bunch of other Rock 'n Vida vids off of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/givamu

Hey that's me! Enjoy the videos. For that is:)