Petra Farewell

Last night I witnessed my favorite concert of the year. It wasn't the biggest show. As a matter of fact, they only had some white lights for the stage. It wasn't the biggest crowd. There may have been 200-300 people there at the most. It wasn't the most flashy. It was just them and their instruments on stage. It was simply the best. It was intimate. It brought back memories. It was performed flawlessly.

Petra is the first rock band I really got into. Being a preacher's kid, I did hear things on the radio, but it wasn't often enough to become familiar and there was nothing that I felt I'd have as my own in music. I'd heard about Christian rock by seeing a poster in the back of our church for Servant and their opening band, Fireworks. When I asked my dad about it, he said he didn't know much but that they were a Christian rock band and they were asked to put the poster up. I didn't attend that show, but now wish I had. I soon went to a new Christian bookstore that a family in our church had just opened. When looking at the records, I asked if there were other Christian rock bands besides Servant and Fireworks. I'd been able to purchase Servant's World Of Sand (great stuff!) and was anxious to hear more. They pointed out Petra and the cool album cover for More Power To Ya made me interested. I got it on cassette and was strutting around my neighborhood with a Realistic Mono tape player thinking it was the best music I'd ever heard. And it was! I loved Stand Up, Second Wind, Run For the Prize, and then three days later purchased Never Say Die. I cranked up Angel Of Light, Chameleon, and Killing My Old Man. This was finally music I could claim as my own since I was the only one I knew that had ever heard of Petra.

Soon after that, and I have no idea how, I ended up being able to go see Petra in a suburb of St. Louis. They were playing a college gymnasium with the opener September. I thought September was great music, but when Petra came out, I was blown away! They had these small chest plates at the top of their shirts that had red lights in the shape of a sword, the same as the letter T in their logo. All you saw was some fog and these red lights on stage. This was only a few dates into the Not Of This World tour and I had no idea that this album was even out. When they introduced Bema Seat as a new song and then that guitar riff kicked in, I was floored! They ripped my freakin' head off with that riff! I knew after that I was a fan for life and I had to get the rest of their stuff and keep track of this band.

I had picked up a newsletter from that show that listed all of their cassettes and a way to purchase them. I ordered the very first one since I could get the rest at the local Christian bookstore. I could not get enough of these guys and it was great to learn more about them by finding articles in the library and in Christian music magazines.

The next album totally disappointed me. I was waiting for more Bema Seat and then they went all synth on Beat The System. It was a great batch of songs, but I was hoping for some more "melt your face" guitar and this just wasn't it. I did listen to it a lot and my brother and I got their songbooks so we could do a few songs at church. I was still a fan and hoped for more rock on the next one.

The next one was a live tape that bid farewell to Greg X. Volz, the first identifiable singer for Petra. He was going solo so Petra started looking for another singer. They found former Head East singer John Schlitt. With John's arrival was a return to more of a rock sound. More guitar and less synth. It reminded me of .38 Special. It was a great rebirth with a new singer. Pregressively after that, the sound got more rock.

I was able to see Petra again opening night of the This Means War tour in Jefferson City, MO. They still had their Back To The Street stage setup and the merchandise arrived in time to sell it after the show. There was an opening band called Xara and they all went to an arcade after the show to sign autographs and meet the people who went to the show. I got a This Means War sampler/interview tape signed that night.

The tape that really made me perk up again with Petra was On Fire! This is still my favorite one. They finally got a harder edge to their sound that I was hoping for with Bema Seat. This one rocked from start to finish and was consistent throughout.

Petra kind of backed off of that edge and had a few solid rock albums after that and then started mellowing out a bit further with Praise music and a changing of the band. Bob Hartman had decided that even though he was the only original member left, he would turn the reigns over to John to run the band on the touring side. Bob would still write songs, but he wanted to spend time with his family. Petra went through a lot of members at this point, but I still bought everything that came out.

I saw Petra again on the Beyond Belief tour and the Salt Box tour. I was fortunate enough to meet John and the band on the Salt Box tour. I asked him about doing some of the old tunes and Bema Seat and he said to pay attention and see if they played something I'd enjoy, but Bema Seat was too high for him to sing. I was in the front row and he acknowledged me when they started that medley of the old hits.

Last night was similar, but better in many ways than those previous shows. I was the first one in and on the front row. They kicked in to All About Who You Know from Jekyll & Hyde, their newest CD that was a return to the hard rocking sound of On Fire, and set the tone for the night. They were here to rock our socks off and still get their message across while pleasing long time fans.

Set List

All About Who You Know
Dance (which we did!)
Amazing Grace (rocked out, of course)
Test Of Time
Creed
Judas Kiss (Would it have been fun to see them do this like One Bad Pig covered it?)
Right Place (the best song from No Doubt)

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: (acoustic with cello)
Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows
Road To Zion
More Power To Ya
For Annie
No Doubt
The Coloring Song
Love

I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N (yes, the camp tune)

Drum Solo

Beyond Belief

Guitar Solo (Bob Hartman has been back for the last couple of CD's and I'm so grateful!)

Lord I Lift Your Name On High

Encore:

He Came, He Saw, He Conquered

Bob Hartman then gave a testimony about doing our part for Feed The Hungry and also for anyone there who may not be a Christian. It wasn't preachy, but just more about his experience. I'd heard the story before, but he has a fun way of telling it. They ended the night with the song Show Your Power.

It was great to see this band do more of a rock show than the current fad of turning rock concerts into praise and worship shows. Of course, that's what is ruining Christian music in my humble opinion, but I'll rant on that another time.

I was fortunate enough to meet John before this show as he was talking outside by his bus. He wsa gracious enough to sign my Jekyll & Hyde CD cover and I heard him tell how he had a CD recorded a couple of years ago that he still hasn't released, yet. He also has some other ideas, but he wants to wait until Petra is finished so as not to interfere. I also got to visit with each member briefly after the show. They had a meet & greet and signed lots of things and took pictures. I brought my entire Petra and John Schlitt CD/cassette/LP collection and stood near the end of the line. I'd met a guy there who convinced me to bring it all in. There were a few people asking me about the stuff. The guy that I had met there turned out to be from Des Moines as was the couple behind us. Turns out that we had all been to some of the same shows, such as the Bryan Adams/Def Lep show. Anyway, I got a picture with the guys and thanked John and Bob for all the memories. I also told Bob I was hoping that he'd put out some more stuff that would "melt my face", as he put it.

This is truly their farewell tour and I know they won't be like Kiss, The Who, or the Rolling Stones and keep touring every few years making people think it's their last. This is truly it. I'm sad to see them go, but grateful that they have a live CD and DVD coming out soon to commemorate this. I'm also glad that they put a great rock album out as their last studio CD.

Farewell, Petra, and thank you for so many memories!