Atlanta Concert Review - Most Extreme Crowd of the Tour

[pmal]

The night started off being disappointing by the amount of rain we were getting when it hadnt rained in a month and ended up being the greatest concert I have ever seen, punctuated by John calling this crowd the most extreme of the tour. It was such an awesome show by Petra. It seems they did pretty much the same show as the Franklin event that I was unable to attend, so that was really nice. Unfortunately because of the rain, the crowd wasnt huge but it was pretty good I thought. We (myself and my girlfriend) got to the concert at around 5:15, because we drove 4 hours to get there, and had VIP seats so we got to sit on the third row, front and center behind the mosh pit. Traffic was bad so I didnt get to "meet and greet the band", which was disappointing to say the least but at least we got there safe. We had the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy coming through but when we got there it seemed that we were going to get lucky and make it through the evening with drizzle at worst. Boy, talk about being wrong. A couple of the bands played and then the rain picked up a little. We went to the car to change into the rain gear and eat some supper. Just after we returned to the seats, the rain unloaded on us and poured from 6:30 till basically 11:05 when Petra had to quit the show because of the 11:00 curfew of the community for outdoor noise. The opening bands ranged from decent to sucked. The ones I'm not mentioning were decent. I'm trying to be as nice as possible but John Reuben and Mute Math, particularly, sucked the blue whale, the largest mammal alive. They sucked so bad I felt embarrased for them. Now, it's not that they couldnt sing or didnt have ability, dont get me wrong. But, their music sucked hard. Mute Math, that has to be the weirdest music I've ever heard and they were cheered. Anyone who cheered for that band must have been affected by the rain is all I can say. They should seek help. LOL! This wasnt some generation gap as my girlfriend is several years younger and she thought it sucked too. I wouldnt go into all of this but by doing so, it just goes to say how great Petra really was! My girlfriend is not a big Petra fan. She likes Petra and knew some of their songs but went with me out of love, it was obvious that was the only reason she was going. I know that because she told me that After the concert, we were both amazed at how much more professional sounding and better Petra was than everyone else playing that night. We were both blown away. The rain played some havic at the beginning and I could hardly hear John sing the first verse of Dance after they switched to the remote microphone but the band's sound was definitely awesome by itself for that moment. I'll tell ya what, John's voice is amazing! This was the first concert I had been to since the Beyond Belief tour and it was amazing to me how great John sounded, front and center, as opposed to at the side and back of the auditorium at that concert when I was in 9th grade. Even the clips I've heard of other concerts on the internet does not due him the justice he has deserved. Anyway, it was an awesome show. The crowd really seemed to get into it, singing along in many parts such as in "It is Finished", when the songs says,"It was OVER!", on "This Means War", on the "I am a C" song, and on the chorus of "Beyond Belief". The crowd seemed to be mostly in the 25-35 year old range on average with younger and older as well. It was great to see a lot of the crowd knowing the songs within 5 seconds of the song beginning, a very "Petra smart" crowd, which made the concert a lot of fun. The rock medley was awesome, it was great getting to hear "Midnight Oil" and "Mine Field" live, two of my all time favorites as well as "I am on the Rock", which sounded better than when they did it on the Beyond Belief Tour to me. Also, "Right Place" was awesome and "Think Twice" was even better than I could have possibly imagined. The highlight of the evening was hearing the Ballad Medley, songs that are often afterthoughts because of Petra's great rock tunes. These songs were absolutlely amazing live! It sent chills down my spine. It was during these songs that as I held my girlfriend during "Love", I realized how much I would really miss Petra when they retired. Listening to them for 22 years, there will never be another band like Petra, ever, for me. The concert was a great moment in time to experience and I'll never forget it! Here's the setlist:

All About Who You Know
Dance
Amazing Grace
Test of Time
Creed
Judas Kiss
Right Place
ROCK MEDLEY:
Sight Unseen
It Is Finished
Think Twice
I Am On The Rock
Midnight Oil
Mine Field
This Means War
It Is Finished (reprise)
Jekyll & Hyde
BALLAD MEDLEY:
Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows
Road to Zion
More Power To Ya
For Annie
No Doubt
The Coloring Song
Love
I Am A CHRISTIAN (while changing setup from ballad medley on stools)
Beyond Belief
(HUGE solo from Bob Hartman, accompanied on part of it by Paul Simmons)

At this point they hit just past the 11o'clock cerfuw for the outdoor joint! Doh!!!!! Even though they had to end the show early, it was an awesome concert with people begging them for more and to keep going but by law they couldn't. I mean, what else could you want from a concert???

[Pethead1]

It was an great night. My shues are still wet. I'll take the 25 side.

Me and my son got there about 12:00. I live on the north east side of Atl and knoe how bad 85 is on Friday wothout rain. We walked right in. Then some guy comes up and says Petra cancled. I just looked at him and he laughed. He let us stay for the sound cheack which is always fun. They were having trouble then with the sound. We talked to John a good while. Boy I got him. I asked him what he was thinking signing a preagent womans belly. I got that same priceless look he gave ya'll I guess. He looked at me and said "How in the world did you here about that?" I said "We're the Petheads you cant keep anything from us." Then he just laughed. I wish I had a video of when my son was telling Bob he used to thing Petra was "old school" and "mom's band" till Taccoa Fest. So he looks Bob in the eye and says now I know you realy are the best ever.

I could go on for ever but I will stop here. OH that was my Lucas McGraw sign John got.

[BForm]

I didn't have a chance to write much this morning, with the exception of the t-shirt update, but my experience was very similar to PMAL, with a few differences.

My son and I drove down from Buford, GA, a northeast suburb. Due to an accident that prevented us from accessing the by-pass, we were forced to go straight through the city on our way to P-tree city. As is always the case when there are two drops of rain in Atlanta, accidents everywhere and traffice inching its way. What should have been about 1.15 hrs turned into just over two.

We walked up to the Petra booth and immediately had a chance to introduce ourselves to John, with Bob standing close by. We wanted to take pictures, but within 5 minutes someone (it may have been Wayne) came up to John and Bob and said very sternly, "We have to go right now," and off they went.

It was kind of frustrating because we had waited a short turn in line, but as soon as we started to talk to John, some lady with two kids rudely stepped right in front of us, then another guy stepped right up to John and handed him his cell phone and asked him to say hi to his wife. John was great though. He knew what had happened and as he was being dragged away grabbed my arm and said he would see me after the show.

I have to say, in the short time I spoke with John I was very impressed. I had always wondered if Petra fans were just "looking through rose colored......glasses", not windows, when talking about the band members of Petra. I know how sappy people can get about their favorite celebrities; almost idolatry. But John really did seem so humble, down to earth, and truly gracious. He especially thanked my son for being one of their "young" supporters.

The concert started with Farewell June, and no rain, just wet chairs. I have to say, I had listened to some of their stuff on their site, which is never a good idea because my computer speakers are horrible, but wasn't real impressed. They only did three songs but they sounded great. I especially liked the lead singer playing fiddle. He was awesome.

I pretty much agree with PMAL. None of the bands were close in quality to Petra, but I think he was being way too harsh on Mute Math. There were a lot of people, including Petra fans, that liked them and were talking about them. Yes, the sound was different, but a few of their songs, especially the last one, really touched me. However, I thought their first song was terrible and they may have been written off by most people after that.

I didn't think much of Falling Up; way too animated and self attention grabbing for me. I know a lot of kids like that, but I don't see how it points to Christ. It seems it only draws attention to themselves. The Wedding was pretty much the same.

One surprise for me was Sarah Brendel, the new German signee of Inpop. She came out with just an accoustic guiter. I liked her style.
She was also as cute as a button and, best of all, was wearing a Petra t-shirt.

Petra started way too late given the curfiew Pmal mentioned. They couldn't finish the complete tour set, and couldn't even do an encore because they were being dragged off stage. They did have several technical difficulties that cut into their time as well. But, in the end, it was an awesome night.

My son and I had made our way all the way to the front of the stage, which, in my opinion, really kills the sound quality. It was obvious that the sound was going around us and not coming to us. But what a blast it was to be right up front to see these guys interact with the crowd. I did the juvinile fist pumping and hand raising that I've never done before, (I wait until I'm 43?), and I was suprised at the number of older guys that were around me. (Yes even older than me.) I told several people about the Petra zone and about the concert in Dawsonville. Some guys from SC are probably going to come over for that one as well.

We were among the few who had not prepared for rain. For some reason I had heard that the first few rows were going to be under a canopy. By the time Petra came on, my son and I could not take on any more water. He was wearing a leather jacket but the inside lining got soaked and it felt like it weighed 80 lbs. The water was literally running off my new Farewell tour t-shirt.

In the end, we decided not to hang around because we were sloshing about so bad. Since we are going to be in the front row at Eddie's nice church in Dawsonville, I thought that would be a better time to hand out afterwards.

I have to say both my son and I were blown away by how talented Greg and Paul are. Once again, I didn't know if y'all were just being biased when you praised these guys or what. But you were dead on. These guys were incredible. Petra doesn't lose a bit of ability with these two, and they should have a bright future.

Well, that's all for now.

Bill

[BForm]

I saw that sign. John held it up and said "we're not doing it" or something to that effect. It was during the time they were fixing the sound problems and Bob started talking to the crowd about how hard it was for them to play everyone's favorite song. Just then everybody started yelling out their requests and Bob just shrugged as if to say "see?".

It was an awesome night, and John did say we had proven ourselves to be the most fanatical fans by weathering the storm. The crowd really was incredible for how terrible the weather was.

[ChuckW]

I was there too. Four of us drove up from Savannah and stopped to buy ponchos before going to the amphitheater.

Petra was awesome! I know that's an 80's word but that's what they were! As they sang I was taken back to my high school/college days and reminded of all the things God has done in my life over the years. It was amazing and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

More info and pictures at www.atomicturtle.net

ChuckW
Old Skool Pethead

[Michael]

For some crazy reason, at the videotaping John actually ASKED for requests. Like they were going to play any without rehearsal! There's like what, 250 songs in the Petra catalog? People were yelling all kinds of stuff (INCLUDING "Lucas McGraw"), and I whispered to my wife Cat, "Freebird!" So she YELLS out, FREEBIRD!!! ...and we were right on the front row! And john looks down and says, who said that? And everyone is pointing at Cat, and he was like, it was a GIRL!!!

hehe

Hey, you guys... you know you can post your reviews for posterity at the Guide to Petra, right?

http://www.guidetopetra.com/concerts.html#ConcertReview

If you post it there, it'll be there forever (as long as there is an Internet, anyway!)