Concert in Saint John, NB WOW!!!!

[Chris in canada]

This wil be quick.

Bread of Stone is pretty good, Farewell June was excellent.

The light show was simple, but it was all about the music.

The concert was organized in the last 2 weeks, and there was a capacity crowd of close to 600. The fans were mostly in the 30-45 age bracket, nut let me tell you, they were enthusiastic and and stood for the whole Petra set.

Now for the show. The music was excellent. Sound a bit muddy at first, but half way through, it was good.

The set list was incredible. They did a super sized rock melody that inluded Midnight oil/this means war/right place/ I am on the Rock/It is finished/Hit you where you live/Think Twice and a couple of more. That went on for 35-40 minutes.

Then, the high lite- Bob dug out the acoustic guitar, Greg on the Cello and Paul on a single bongo drum, and they did

Road to Zion/Coloring Song/More Power to Ya/Love/For Annie and maybe a couple of more. It was incredible.

They also performed 3 or 4 songs off of JH, but cut the worship songsd to Show your power, Lord I lift your name on high and Amazing Grace4.

Fans, theis was the best concert ever. You will not be disappointed!!

He aslo confirmed the CD/DVD.

And as an end note, John sounded terrific. Last time I saw hin in 2000 he was strained, but he sounded like he did in the 80's.

Only issue, no autograph afterwards. Did get a geat tour shirt though!

[sue d.]

Thanks for the report, Chris.. but no autograph signing? That's rather unusual... unless they had to hit the road to make it to the next date.

[SkyCaptain]

Oh man! I was practically jumping up and down when I heard that they had added my all-time favorite Petra song, "I AM ON THE ROCK," and "Midnight Oil" to the set! I want to hear those songs live SO BAD! Can't wait for the Oceaside concert.

Mark

[seichu kaisho]

Oh man! I was practically jumping up and down when I heard that they had added my all-time favorite Petra song, "I AM ON THE ROCK," and "Midnight Oil" to the set! I want to hear those songs live SO BAD! Can't wait for the Oceaside concert.

Mark

YES!! I Am On the Rock is my absolute favorite Petra song too!

It's totally sweet that they're able to play songs live that they haven't played live in ages. When was the last time they ever played Love in a concert. . . . .

What J&H songs did they specifically play? Do you remember?

[Petra Fan Canada]

Now that I'm back from Orlando, another few comments.

Farewell June were acting as the stage crew for Petra, and they were very humble about it. While I'm sure an arena tour of thousands with a full set-up would be great, the atmosphere was incredible. Kudos to all. By the way, Farewell June looks to be an up and comer.

Funny incidents.

1) During a break in songs, Bob talked about the start of the tour (this was the 3rd date) and how poor they sounded (sure bud!) and that we should be grateful that we weren't the first 2 stops. But he had good news, he saved a lot on car insurance! (Thats what Bob H said).

2) The band ended a song ( I think J&H) with a blazing solo from Bob with Greg and Paul still playing also, to which John took off. They then broke into Lord I lift your name and had a fairly long opening, No John. They started the verses, no John. The Crowd joined in, and halfway through Greg shrugged his shoulders and took over the lead. About 3/4 of the way through the chorus, John comes running back out, with the lead singer of Farewell June hooking either John's earpieces or cordless mic back up on his rump side. Cool entrance John!! Greg Finished the verse and chorus!

3) They also did I am a C-h-r-i-s-t-i-a-n with us, and the crowd caught on fast and went for it.

Overall, I thought it was a great night for the fans. There was a lot of music and a lot of material covered.

To be honest, I thought the atmosphere would be terrible since the band hasn't been here for a long, long time and not much airtime on local radio. But although few teenagers were there, we brought down the house for Petra. By far, my best Petra experience.

Glad to see those that made it to Franklin made it home.

For those of you who can, you need to see this tour. One of their best.

TTFN.

Chris

Aka cvs2kids
Aka Chris from canada
(Stupid passwords!).

PS Briguy PEI, did you make it? There was a contingent of 15-20 from PEI.

[sue d.]

Aka cvs2kids

AH! NOW I know who you are.

[BriGuyPEI]

Sadly, no. I did not make it. Me and the two guys I was going to drive over with were all pretty tight for cash so we couldn't swing it. It was agonizing to know that Petra was so close and I couldn't go.

It reminds me of the time Petra was going to play in Halifax on the PP2 tour. I found out about it a week before and I was already committed to something that night. Then I later found out that it was cancelled because of poor ticket sales. I'm guessing because it was added on late and nobody promoted it.

I did see Petra once in Toronto on the UP tour, so at least I've seen them.

I haven't been talking to anyone from PEI that went. I wonder if I know any of them.

[Petra Fan Canada]

Promotion has always been an issue. Its better now with Christian radio, but they have a limited range. Its hard ti impossible to get the word out.

I found out about the Saint John concert by way of my pastor wh saw a sign in Saint John.

I would have cried if I missed it.

I gues my best bet is to bookmark as many stations as possible and go to them once and awhile to see who's coming in.

As a side note, I'm guessing only 50% of the crowd was local, with the rest being as far as 6 hours away. So the power of radio worked!