Classic Petra's Facebook

[bakersfieldpethead]

So if we really want to get confused here. We can outline all the Petra's there are

Original Petra [do we know if they'll perform again in the future]
Classic Petra to record and tour this year
Dream Team Petra (most likely will never perform together again)
Retired Petra (or Farewell Petra) who will play this year
II Guys from Petra who are already performing this year.
The Mickey Mouse Weaver Club will be making a stop at Disney Land anyone want tickets?

[executioner]

I emailed Bob and his one line response was Petra is no longer an active band.

So the name of this NEW band is called CLASSIC PETRA

I emailed Bob Hartman and he said he never said any such thing about Petra!

If I could produce the email I would, but I've been told I'm not allowed to copy. I send Bob emails probably three or four times a year asking things of this nature and he has always responded, but Bob always gives me one-liners and never explains his comments. I asked a simple question and he gave me a simple answer.
If you put all this together its not a big deal, five band members from that era are back together and at the very least will have new material and a big tour to go along with it, but from all evidence that I see this band will be called Classic Petra and not Petra.

[Shell]

Bob probably has a lot to keep up with; he may not remember every e-mail he gets. I know I don't remember everything I say to everyone. As has been pointed out, the "official" name isn't a big deal. I'm just glad they're doing shows.

As for facebook, there may not be a lot of new stuff to add to it, and they probably don't spend all of their time on the Internet.

Let's just relax and enjoy the shows huh?

[sue d.]

I just happened to stop by Jesusfreakhideout.com last night, and they have Petra listed as an active band with the classic line-up being the current members. John is listed as a former member.

http://jesusfreakhideout.com/artists/Petra.asp

And they show a photo of John, Bob, Greg B. and Justin. Please.

They're ALL former members. SOME of them are reuniting for certain dates.

The ones who actually HAVE dates posted and confirmed are now the 'former members' and the ones who have no dates listed at all are 'active?' This is getting totally ridiculous...

[Shell]

It can really becoming confusing when anyone can put anything on the Internet. Whoever is doing this should clarify whether they actually work for them in some capacity, confirm their information before posting and keep the info updated as much as possible. Just my opinion.

[Enosh]

For petes sake just call it Petra already.

This is rediculous. As far as I'm concerned this is petra now. Yep I see john as a former member of petra at this point. I mean if you can have john schlitt and four other new guys in a band and call it petra then having the complete old lineup qualifys.

John needs to make up his mind. Just like the rest of em. This confusion of all these different versions is getting plain stupid. It does more to hurt the name than help.

It was bad enough having two guys from petra running around. I think classic will put a quality product out there that needs to be recognized for what it is...petra.

Don't go feeling sorry for john. If he wanted to keep petra going he could have. They all walked away from it. Its over. The only thing that would spark any interest in schlitt era petra would be for the dream team to reunite. That's not happening cuz john fired bthem all till it was just him let. (Sarcasm)

I have always preferred john to greg and defended john to people who say greg is a better technical singer. But now I feel (ironically) that classic petra will be something much more fresh and is what this franchise needs.

[HudsonPethead]

Speaking on Facebook!
This Facebook Classic Petra is full of information and already have many people who frequently visit the page.
Bob or anyone connected with the band could use the same Facebook to post official information about the band, tour and new CD. Becoming an official Facebook page and not a fan page as it is.
This is important for any artist today.
Could create an Official Myspace too.
No doubt it would help spread!

[sue d.]

I mean if you can have john schlitt and four other new guys in a band and call it petra

"4 other new guys?" He's playing with 3 others: Bob, Greg B. and Cristian because Paul can't make it. The only one that's new is Cristian.

What does John need to make up his mind about? HILLS ALIVE called me to see if Petra would consider getting back together again for their festival's anniversary. John & Bob said 'yes.' John/Bob made up his mind, said yes to Hills Alive, to Heavenfest, to two dates in Brazil and now an additional one called Glory Road in SD.

All this was happening (on my & John's part, at least) before any knowledge of any classic Petra reunion....

And what was wrong with II Guys? It was a fun little gig! They just did an event in Norway.

[Masada1]

Interestingly enough...there is already a precedent for this sort of thing in CCM right now. I'm not sure how many of you remember the vocal group Acappella, but they are currently performing as two different incarnations of the same group. Much like Petra, Acappella also had a bit of a revolving membership door and in fact, have NO original members of the group left in the group. Now, I know it's a bit different for a vocal group than a full on band, but I do think there are comparisons to be made. Among die-hard Acappella fans, there is considerable talk of their favorite vocalists, just like with us Pet-heads. Anyway, the point of all this is that the latest lineup is still active and recording and touring as "Acappella." In addition, the founder of the group put together some of the best of the classic lineups and they also tour as "Acappella Classic." It hasn't seemed to hurt their franchise and it gives the fans what they want. So, I think it's more than fair to called the Greg led version "Classic Petra" and the John led version "Petra."

To be honest, what I'm more concerned about is the tone that this place overall is getting to have. God forbid that any new fans that Classic Petra might generate wander into some of the discussions that I've seen in the last few weeks. I don't think they would feel very welcome overall. I understand that many of you all have intimate connections with John and a long history...I personally love the guy and have seen him both with Petra and solo well over 25+ times. But...this is the Petra Zone, not the John zone or the Greg zone. My personal feeling is that any exposure that Petra gets...whatever the version...is ultimately good for the band. It might lead new people to check out John's stuff (btw, that is actually how I got into Kansas's music...by investigating their music cause I knew John Elefante was involved) and that could lead to greater solo concerts and/ or Farewell lineup interest.

Regardless of that...lives are going to be impacted for Jesus. That was the heart of the band 30 years ago...I'm sure that it's still the heart. Now, as Brent has so often and correctly reminded us, Petra is a band (i.e. business) so I know that if the money and interests weren't there this wouldn't happen. But, apparently, the timing is right and for once, it appears that someone was paying attention. I think that there have been way too many times in the past where poor musical and business decisions have hurt Petra (and no, I have no inside information...I just know what it looks like from the outside). There was a time when Petra was the hottest band around and instead of capitalizing on that...they embarked on a new musical direction that basically killed their fan base and did't bring new fans in. And, I'm not convinced that they had management that had their best interests at heart (thank God that John now has Sue!!). For whatever reason, Greg or whoever seemed to see a trend and decided to move on it. Personally, I think it's awesome that in this economic climate, Classic Petra is beginning to generate interest. I talked to Penny Weaver briefly yesterday and she indicated the guys are really excited about this opportunity and hope that God blesses this venture.

I think that all of us who call ourselves fans of Petra need to unite behind this effort and really start praying for God to move in mighty ways. A resurgence of Petra...again, in whatever form...is a good thing. I personally want to see more lives impacted for Jesus the same way mine was 24 years ago when a friend of mine gave me a strange little tape called "Beat the System" that forever changed my life!

Pethead forever,

Eric

[Shell]

That pretty much sums it up Eric...And I think you're probably the first one to suggest we pray for them.

[Enosh]

Sue

I'm talking about the past when we it seemed we were getting 2 to 3 new petra members per album. Not the petra hybrid that is the john and bob show with special guest greg bailey from that last album.

2 guys was a way for them to try to still make money. Ihave no problem with that. The name was silly but that was what they wanted to call it.

Petra has become a parody of itself. I really hate saying anything because you all know much I love this band and these guys. But if you separate yourself from it and read the posts on this board you can clearly see that people are darn confused. Look at the topic page. It is a bunch of confusing posts about multiple incarnations of what was once the greatest band around.

I wish johns solo career would have taken off. What we have now are a group of guys that are holding on to their version of petra. My take is if john wants petra to work with him in it get the dream team together. (This is my prefer+nce). Otherwise the new/old petra (that has new interest) should be petra.

There is only one incarnation of petra that (currently) has a game plan. If we have different versions running around calling themselves petra it dilutes the brand and its credability.

The question was asked who should use the name. I would love for john and the guys to have made it happen. If they can't work together then that's on them but frankly I would rather have the credability of classic petra then have john bob and greg with some other guy at this point. (Never thought I would of ever said that) was never a big greg x. Fan but...

John is a solo artist now. I used to think that petra could not exist in modern day without him. I think I was wrong about that.

Time will tell.

[shawnpfan2010]

Enosh I couldn't agree more.

[petraman]

I agree enosh!

[brent]

Lots of good thoughts here. I think that Enosh brings up a great point that cracks this debate wide open.

Petra was perceived at one time to be not-Petra without Bob and the other guys. Some people wrote Petra off when Greg was out. I initially did. When the band I was in opened for them, I thought they sucked wind. It was over in my mind. The following year we opened again and I changed my tune. Some people wrote Petra off when Bob left. Some wrote them off when Louie left. Just as Head East is no longer Head East, but is one member with a bunch of nobody hired guns, so was Petra for a bit.

The important thing to point out is that some of us waffle back and forth about what Petra is and just how it should be defined. IF Petra was bigger than the members themselves, then who is playing in it is meaningless. I don't think that it was bigger than the members. This line of thinking is absurd to me. This is like saying the Stones are bigger than the members. The Beatles are bigger than their members. That's retarded. The members ARE the band. Take away any of the members and you have a name. It is the PEOPLE that make it.

If we view Petra was a ministry, bigger than the participants, then we must take whatever version they are feeding and lump it. If it is not, then we should go see the one you like or pester the snot out of them until you get it.

The fact that Bob is in it and all of the other players WERE in Petra, not new hires joining a partial one-night reunion of the band, makes this more Petra than anything elseat the moment. That is the way I see it anyway. This version has a history. This version got the bloody head. This version deserves some time in the sun.

[fcollazo]

Enosh, you are my hero!

No one could have said it better that you did!

The Classic Petra version is what this franchise needs, we had 10 years of John Schllitt with 3 or 4 other guys, now I enjoyed the music but it was getting ridiculous with the firing of people left and right, there was no difference between "Petra" and "Menudo"!