THEY OWNED THE STAGE!!

[sue d.]

Hehehe... we'll crack the whip on all you youngsters! (ok, ok, I'm not THAT old - am I???)

Louie was a big contributor to the "presence" of Petra on and off of the stage

I would agree with that statement, Brent. But when Louie wasn't happy, or in a funk, or in a bad mood.... the whole band was affected because he let them know it. Not to take anything away from Louie, but you gotta keep that stuff to yourself - and NOT let it out in public either. Not in front of your fans.

Ronny and Louie have charisma, and they play with passion and don't stand there like a tree stumps,

Greg and Cristian don't have passion? Charisma?

[Shell]

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with speaking up and letting someone know you're upset about something, having a bad day or not in a good mood; it may not be the best thing to keep it bottled up. There's a balancing point. You can alienate people if you're not careful. You should take responsibility for your own behavior and moods. You shouldn't take stuff out on people, and you shouldn't deal with it in public. I know from being on a few family trips being confined in close quarters with other people for a long time can be stressful, even if you normally get along well. I'm sure the long tours were a strain for all of them too.

Whatever the case, that was a long time ago and they've probably moved on.

[fcollazo]

I know for a fact that John or PETRA for that matter don't always get the best in ear or monitor mix playing live, which is not John's fault. Any singer that can not hear himself will have trouble handling power, projection and modulation, all of which help hitting the right notes. At the Illinois State Fair last year he sounded like he did in 1994. Just listen to Dance and the notes he hits in the bridge that he avoided a lot during the Farewell tour. That tells me the man still can do it but factors that he can't control affect his range from time to time.

[GS.]

The idea of a dream team tour sounds fun although you have to put some things into factor. Ronny has fun on the stage but has moved on. He is heavily involved with the music industry at his church and is happy doing that. He'll do single out gigs like that one but I do not picture him touring. Louie I think would tour and have fun doing it but we all know his past between him and John. It appears there are no hard feelings between them and they can even do single out gigs but a long term thing I do not think would work with them. The last thing is it wuld seem wrong to tell Greg Bailey that they don't want him. He is very talented himself and has a good time with the band and made a perfect replacement baseist. Christian also makes a good drummer for the band with Paul doing other things and it appearing a long term gig with Louie wouldn't work.

[p-freak]

I don't think Petra will ever start doing some serious touring again. The only way to do that would be to join some big shot band as a support act. But I don't think they're willing to go for that, not even the current line-up, since they all have their stuff to do. I can't see nothing more than a few one-off shows happen in any line-up.

I'm a bit tired of all the speculation about which line up should tour and how the 'old' fans can be brought back into the fold. That's not going to happen. Even with a series of dream team shows, they're not what's current. If they want to make an impact (and I get the impression they're not really working for that) they should write new material and record music. They should ditch the album format and go for smaller set ups and record (live) EPs with several line-ups, create a few new songs here and there, and make use of the diversity of Petra. Invite well-known CCM/secular stars to record with them / contribute to their EPs. They would be able to make themselves musically relevant up to a certain extent by starting with a plan. I don't think there is a plan right now and I don't believe there will ever be a plan.

[executioner]

The idea of a dream team tour sounds fun although you have to put some things into factor. Ronny has fun on the stage but has moved on. He is heavily involved with the music industry at his church and is happy doing that. He'll do single out gigs like that one but I do not picture him touring. Louie I think would tour and have fun doing it but we all know his past between him and John. It appears there are no hard feelings between them and they can even do single out gigs but a long term thing I do not think would work with them. The last thing is it wuld seem wrong to tell Greg Bailey that they don't want him. He is very talented himself and has a good time with the band and made a perfect replacement baseist. Christian also makes a good drummer for the band with Paul doing other things and it appearing a long term gig with Louie wouldn't work.

A course I would love a tour, but those days of a 40 city 3 month tour are gone, especially for someone in CCM like Petra. I would expect if anything would happen would be a couple gigs a month at the most. I know that Ronny has said publicly he would be up for that if asked. The Louie & John issue has been put in the past by both men and I think something could would work like that, but working daily together would probably be a stretch. I think both incarnations(except CP) could work together to form something with them both doing some dates on a separate basis. I could see the Dream Team doing some studio work with some EP type or maybe something like with what CP did and from what I've been told Bob is somewhat coming around on Kickstarter.

[executioner]

I don't think Petra will ever start doing some serious touring again. The only way to do that would be to join some big shot band as a support act. But I don't think they're willing to go for that, not even the current line-up, since they all have their stuff to do. I can't see nothing more than a few one-off shows happen in any line-up.

I'm a bit tired of all the speculation about which line up should tour and how the 'old' fans can be brought back into the fold. That's not going to happen. Even with a series of dream team shows, they're not what's current. If they want to make an impact (and I get the impression they're not really working for that) they should write new material and record music. They should ditch the album format and go for smaller set ups and record (live) EPs with several line-ups, create a few new songs here and there, and make use of the diversity of Petra. Invite well-known CCM/secular stars to record with them / contribute to their EPs. They would be able to make themselves musically relevant up to a certain extent by starting with a plan. I don't think there is a plan right now and I don't believe there will ever be a plan.

I think you have it right in some ways and I like your idea about including most or all members in something. I will say I really don't care if their current or not and just want to hear Petra play what is in their heart not what someone would say "hey this could go well on radio" A band with this type of age needs to forget radio or being "current" and just do and play what they want; they have all the tools to make this happen in house. We also need to realize the God factor in all of this, if God doesn't want it then I think Petra won't do it.

On the secular side with something in the same vain is the group Journey, they said hey we don't care about radio or being relevant any longer in the industry we are just going to make the albums we want and tour if we want. I know this is like comparing apples/oranges but Journey just got done with their most successful tour ever and has sold more albums in the last ten years then they ever did in their hey day. I think this is something that could happen with Petra but on a much smaller scale.

[brent]

You can't compare the secular to christian. The numbers do not work. There are exponentially millions more familiar with a Journey song. The story and origin of the lead singer contributes to their success in foreign countries. Secular audiences never forget the music of their impressionable years. Christians do. They mature. They have different priorities. They will not drop $2k per seat to get up close with an artist. Christians fall away and don't purchase Christian forever. Christians do go to secular concerts and continue to buy secular. I have been to several Journey shows and people sit down during the new hits. The people only want the hits. THAT is why Journey doesn't care about making new music. BTW, Journey is going out as Santana.

[executioner]

You can't compare the secular to christian. The numbers do not work. There are exponentially millions more familiar with a Journey song. The story and origin of the lead singer contributes to their success in foreign countries. Secular audiences never forget the music of their impressionable years. Christians do. They mature. They have different priorities. They will not drop $2k per seat to get up close with an artist. Christians fall away and don't purchase Christian forever. Christians do go to secular concerts and continue to buy secular. I have been to several Journey shows and people sit down during the new hits. The people only want the hits. THAT is why Journey doesn't care about making new music. BTW, Journey is going out as Santana.

1. On the comparison side is the reason why I said apples/oranges and Petra on a much smaller scale.
2. Journey continues to make new music just not the music for the radio listener(did you know that Journey declined to put their new singles on radio because they knew they wouldn't get played), and they've been very successful at it with the last 2 albums selling very well and are scheduled to return to the studio after this Santana gig they are doing this spring/summer.
3. I've been to 3 Journey shows in Dallas since 2005 and what I was seeing was a lot of the 50 yrs+ sitting during the newer material but the younger generation being excited about hearing the new material; their last tour was 70+ dates in North America with just about all of those sold out with another 25 international dates added too that. I saw a lot of people buying up their "Revelation" & "Eclipse" CD's at the latest show.

I know Petra is not Journey, but Petra could take some cues from them and use some of what they have done on a much smaller scale. I would bet if Petra announced that the Dream Team is reuniting and has hired a producer like Brown Bannister or the team that Skillet & TFK use that there would be a lot of excitement in it. I know facebook was put of fire when people found out about the Dream Team being involved in this CCM Charity Event.

[Dan]

No Christian and Paul don't have charisma, another time different era... maybe.

Ronny has stated in interview that he wrote to John Schlitt to get the Dream Team back together, he also said that John never got back to him. There may have been a problem with John S and Ronny, because I remember a post on a forum in the late 90's saying that John and Ronny were not on good terms after he left.

John, Bob, Greg & Paul were good for the leg of the Jekyll and Hyde tour, but the way they changed the older songs to fit that more grungy style wasn't fantastic. The way the Dream Team played I am on the Rock was perfect, it was original and brought familiarity. If Paul and Christian are so good they can get work playing with new band or something else because at the moment they are only adding to the demise of a legend, and they are going to have to do something else someday anyway they are are in their early 40's right?

Ideally Dream Team does one more album, a few dates then Petra retires for good.

[p-freak]

No Christian and Paul don't have charisma, another time different era... maybe.

Ronny has stated in interview that he wrote to John Schlitt to get the Dream Team back together, he also said that John never got back to him. There may have been a problem with John S and Ronny, because I remember a post on a forum in the late 90's saying that John and Ronny were not on good terms after he left.

John, Bob, Greg & Paul were good for the leg of the Jekyll and Hyde tour, but the way they changed the older songs to fit that more grungy style wasn't fantastic. The way the Dream Team played I am on the Rock was perfect, it was original and brought familiarity. If Paul and Christian are so good they can get work playing with new band or something else because at the moment they are only adding to the demise of a legend, and they are going to have to do something else someday anyway they are are in their early 40's right?

Ideally Dream Team does one more album, a few dates then Petra retires for good.

DISCLAIMER: This is Dan's personal opinion and does not reflect mine.

Come on, Dan, aren't you a little bit too harsh on Cristian, Paul and Greg? (Rhetorical question, requiring a resounding 'yes' from you and a solemn pledge to take it easy on those guys.)

[Dan]

Yes just my opinion Peter, it's harsh I'll admit that... I have had enough of Farewell... same songs over and over and over again slowly getting worse each time. Every time I see Bob and John with those guys I just feel so let down by how boring it is.

Does this make me a bad person?

[rexreed]

Been to a lot of shows. As mentioned by Brent Christian music fan retention rates are probably in the single digits. Their songs usually have no crossover appeal and often Christian retailers and radio stations ditch the older artists/songs. A band like Journey can lose half their audience and still be a top ten grossing act. They have a large percentage of fans that won't go see a show without Steve Perry but then they have a whole new legion of fans along with the faithful that embrace the new guy. I think they probably have more appeal now, though, based on the shows I've been to. When they put out new music and it is good then the audience does indeed get into it. Two tours ago Journey played four new songs of their latest album (at the time) and the audience in Houston ate it up, almost as if it were 1983 and folks were crazy for the new Frontiers album. Nothing about Journey is similar to Petra at the moment other than they have replaced members over the years.

[Dan]

That's right Rex, Christian music is a whole different creature. The larger public only know Petra from 1982 to 1993 other times are forgotten (with the exception of die hard Pethead's like us.) You have to look at those times and say, what did we have there that was appealing (other than the right place right time.) extract that and you have got gold.

[rexreed]

Part of it was that arena rock was king, and Petra gave Christians a dose of the excitement with their music and shows. Arena rock isn't king anymore and well, I might as well repeat everything we have stated already... One reason the Newsboys are still on the road is that they are really just three different bands, or two bands and Michael Tait. Their fans don't even know songs from a couple albums previous...They get mad when the lead singer is replaced and don't even know that the lead singer they love was a replacement!