ABOUT THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

[trodLAN]

FROM PETRA'S OFFICIAL WEB SITE
Petra (John Schlitt, Bob Hartman, Greg Bailey and Cristian Borneo) has been invited to perform on The Classic Rock Tour 2014, slated to kickoff February 2014. Included in the tour are Asia featuring John Payne, ELO Part II alumni Phil Bates (The Music of Electric Light Orchestra Classic) and former Genesis frontman Ray Wilson (Genesis Classic) joining on select dates.
The touring package will present various combinations of the bands in both the U.S. and Europe, kicking off Spring 2014.

“This tour is an amazing opportunity to bring Petra’s music to audiences that may not have ever heard of us,” states frontman John Schlitt. “Bob (Hartman) and I welcome the opportunity to perform before a whole new crowd and are very excited about going out together again.”

For live dates in the band's traditional market, Petra is opening up its touring schedule in association with Cinder Entertainment Agency to include Christian venue bookings in the North America and Europe as well, with Petra being joined by very special guests (to be announced very shortly)!

“Petra always has been first and foremost a Christian rock band,” reflects Schlitt. “There’s no doubt about where we stand or where our focus is. We want to be available to play wherever we’re needed - be it secular or Christian,” declares Schlitt.

In addition to reuniting with Petra, Schlitt will continue to tour with his own band and as a soloist in support of his 2012 release, The Greater Cause.

“I’m very blessed to have the best of both worlds,” says Schlitt. “I’m able to tour with some of the best musicians - in my band and in Petra. It’s a unique situation and I’m looking forward to playing with all the guys!”
Stay tuned to the site or the Official Petra Facebook and Twitter for news and dates as they're announced.

PETRA links in the text to http://www.classicrocktour.com/ where the only thing you find is sex and advertising stuff

I cannot find anything about this tour on the net (except on PETRA's own home page).

I say: Take this (link) offline...

[HudsonPethead]

And the tour with John Elefante?

[zman7720000]

Petra without Volz is a joke!

[zman7720000]

Petra without Volz is a joke!

Check that I meant Weaver! LOL

[pmal]

I only see classicrocktour.com at the top with an option to change languages, no ads. However, the original site as it was a few months agoi is indeed now down ...

[Dan]

Louie... is probably more wanted than Bob in some aspects.

[sue d.]

And the tour with John Elefante?

I'm working on it!

[Jonathan]

Petra without Volz is a joke!

Check that I meant Weaver! LOL

[Dan]

Petra without Volz is a joke!

Check that I meant Weaver! LOL

lol

[brent]

Ahhh. Louie got to come back, play on a record, make a video, and now he is probably happy just to drive a bus. Bus drivers make some bank! I bet bus drivers NET as much, if not more, than some musicians they cart around.

[Dan]

I have seriously though about doing the truck driving thing one day, driving from Cracker Barrel to Cracker Barrel... talking on the CB radio... this would be good.

[musicwithharry]

I am not sure if I would go to a reunion type show unless they featured music from the entire discography, to be honest. To accurately do that music, would they not need the members from each era to really pull it off?

I've seen many reunion and variety type shows throughout my life and career as a musician and some of them are really terribly done because someone different tried to pull off the music from an era that they were not involved with.

I remember certain concerts that I've been to:

Petra - 1985 - CITAS concert. Blew my mind and I gave my life to Christ. The opener was Geoff Moore and aside from the keyboard player and guitarist, they played to pre-recorded tracks.

Whiteheart - 1986 I think. This is when Rick Florian was doing the vocals and I believe just got hired on to replace Scott Douglas...Granted, Rick did the vocals on every album from Don't Wait for the Movie to when they retired, but there were three albums before him with different singers. In fact, the first two albums had not only one lead singer but three. there was mark Gershmel (who co-founded Whiteheart and sang on every album they released), Steve Green (he sang on the first and I think the second album but left to pursue his own solo career in Christian music - and did very well), and Scott Douglas (which sang on the second and third albums only - I do not think he was on the first). I remember that Whiteheart said the Scott was not singing for them anymore but I remember the songs sounding a little different but since they were so early in their career, he really pulled it off, since many of the members were still in the band (except for David Huff who went on to be a session guitarist and we can really read on his career - it's been blessed). Overall, they were a solid unit from my recollection... I do not remember who opened for Whiteheart.

America - my first wife bought me tickets for this show for my 21st birthday. Those guys rocked I believe that they were all original members too and it really was great. Their opener was the Little River Band - all were there except for the original keyboardist. The guy there was the keyboardist for Player - so they did player music too. Awesome show that I will always remember

Jefferson Airplane - this concert completely stunk! They had those squishy thing graphics on the wall and even thought it was a free show, I walked out scratching my head in wondering if the 60's had really ended and such... the opener was the Ray Manzarek band. If you remember, he played keys and keyboard bass for the Doors. It was not too bad...

John Denver - great show. Great entertainer. I saw his last concert before he died two weeks later in the plane crash. I do not believe he had an opener, but frankly, he did not really need one.

Michael Martin Murphy does cowboy songs - I fell asleep at this one....

I guess my point is that, especially with Petra, that if they were to do a 40 anniversary concert, how well it go off without Greg singing the songs from his era and the band from that period playing in that era? Nothing bad against the guys now in Petra, but there would be something missing for me. I would want to see different versions of the band doing their songs, have an intermission and then bring another version of the band on for the other songs. The two most obvious bands would be the band with Greg Volz and the band with John Schlitt. Both are great singers but their vocals are night and day for their respective songs.

Like I said, I saw them in 1985. I think that I saw them after John joined as well doing BTTS stuff and the older music. I also saw them in the early 2000's and that is when Quinton Gibson was playing guitar and the only two guys I could name relate to were John and Louie. It was like a different band for me and I left wanting more.

Grace,
Harry

[Thief]

I am not sure if I would go to a reunion type show unless they featured music from the entire discography, to be honest. To accurately do that music, would they not need the members from each era to really pull it off?

...

I guess my point is that, especially with Petra, that if they were to do a 40 anniversary concert, how well it go off without Greg singing the songs from his era and the band from that period playing in that era? Nothing bad against the guys now in Petra, but there would be something missing for me. I would want to see different versions of the band doing their songs, have an intermission and then bring another version of the band on for the other songs. The two most obvious bands would be the band with Greg Volz and the band with John Schlitt. Both are great singers but their vocals are night and day for their respective songs.

Well, I think that any band with a long career, and that has switched singers (considering they are the most notable member), has to deal with whether to do the old songs and how to do them "correctly", and lots of bands pull it off. But as time goes by, it's obvious that the bands, any band, will favor newer songs vs. older songs; even those that haven't changed singers.

That said, I don't think it's necessary to have the old guys to play the old songs in any band, as long as there is some thought put into the song, some rework done in them whenever necessary, and rehearsals for it to come out ok. Sammy Hagar pulled it off nicely when stepping into Van Halen, and he ended up being one of the best frontmen I've seen live. As for Petra, I think John's rendition of "It Is Finished" in the Petra Farewell CD was great. On the other hand, I saw a recent video on YouTube with them playing "Beat the System" recently and, although the sound of the video recording was awful, I don't think they pulled it out that well. It's inevitable that some songs will work, while others might not.

The thing with Petra is that Schlitt and Volz are such different singers (two that happened to fit perfectly into the band during their respective eras), that not all old songs fit Schlitt's vocal range and style, or viceversa. But like I said, if the band decides to play an old song, I'm sure they can put work into it, rework it if necessary, rehearse it, and pull it off.

[Jonathan]

Can I just see Petra in whatever iteration up there blasting rock and roll, playing the old beloved classics that we can all scream along with and go deaf to? I'm not so worried about new stuff, they can leave the last 20 years off the setlist if they want. If Louie's moved on doing his thing and he's happy, great. I wouldn't want to shoehorn musicians back together who have no interest in that. Greg or John can sing, whatever. If they want to take the stage and rock, picking the songs they want, I'm on board. Chances are, I'll love it. I'll see a classic rock show with great music played by outstanding musicians.

[Dan]

Can I just see Petra in whatever iteration up there blasting rock and roll, playing the old beloved classics that we can all scream along with and go deaf to? I'm not so worried about new stuff, they can leave the last 20 years off the setlist if they want. If Louie's moved on doing his thing and he's happy, great. I wouldn't want to shoehorn musicians back together who have no interest in that. Greg or John can sing, whatever. If they want to take the stage and rock, picking the songs they want, I'm on board. Chances are, I'll love it. I'll see a classic rock show with great music played by outstanding musicians.

Here is an idea, why not replace John Schlitt... get a new young fresh singer..? they could play the classics! would you still go then?