nos·tal·gia (no-stalj,uh)
n.
1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.It was a night like so many nights in Vancouver, WA. Wet and dreary for the most part. I quickly swallowed a small piece of my wife’s home made lasagna without chewing as the white truck pulled into the driveway. I had been ready for hours.
80’s faded jeans with holes in the knees…check.
Yankees fanfare hat worn backwards…check.
Warm black hooded sweatshirt, great for standing in outdoor lines…check.
Camera. Check. Piece of butt rock propaganda for an autograph…check.
I stood in front of the mirror practicing my fist pumps. I was playing the Jekyll & Hyde album in the car on the way home from work, practicing my Agnus Young impression on the choruses of the title track. I owed Petra that much. Every Petra fan I think I’ve ever met has a great story about how a Petra concert changed their lives. Mine is like a hundred others, but it’s mine and it literally was a life-changing experience on July 23rd 1992. That was my first exposure to them, and the lingering thought that this would be my last, loomed over my head like the dark rain clouds over my house. There was no denying it, this concert was bittersweet. I piled in the back and we cracked a few jokes amongst ourselves about what the median age of the average concert attendee would be. And some solemn statements about how Petra’s authenticity and simplicity within the lyrics of their songs will be sorely missed. Bands don’t write like that anymore. They rarely come out and make statements like “Dance with the one that brung ya. Don’t change hats, you know it’s the one you wear.” There was never an ounce of vagueness or ambiguity in Petra’s lyrics. Anyway, on to the concert.
Two bands opened for Petra. Farewell June and Bread of Stone. Bread of Stone was a 3-piece…sort of. Bread of Stone had three acoustic guitar players, borrowed a keyboard player from Farewell June, a bass player from Farewell June, and the drummer that was playing with Petra to perform their show. They are from the Iowa and, apparently, got the opening slot as a bit of a fluke. Here’s a testament to how real Petra is, people. As their coming into this tour, Petra still did not have a mode of transportation. They needed a van. Now, it may sound insane to you and people not in “the know” often fight with me on this topic, but believe it or not, opening bands actually pay to open for a big headliner like Petra. It’s not unusual, it’s the norm. Audio Adrenaline charges over $2,000 a night to open for them. Anyway, Petra didn’t have a van, so they got in touch with this band somehow, who had a van, and basically told them if you let us ride with you, you can open for us. And that’s it. That’s like the President saying, ‘give me a ride to the White House and I’ll let you be Secretary of State.” Bread of Stone were not bad. They had some really good harmonizing vocals between the singers on stage. They seemed genuine with their message and had an air of “just happy to be here” on their faces. My understanding is that they are worship leaders and youth pastors.
Farewell June was a very eclectic band from Missouri. Their opening couple of songs felt like little more than an extension of the last band, but they slowly blossomed into a truly great show. Masterful craftsmanship and skillful playing of violin, guitar, and bass and drums complimented the beautiful harmonies. There was a token tambourine girl on stage that did little and whose mic was so low in the mix she couldn’t be heard. Dan and I speculated about which band member she must be married to. I was in a band that had member whose wife insisted she be allowed to play tambourine and stand on stage to look pretty. She eventually instigated a vote to kick out the band leader at that time. Thank you Ono. Anyway, Farewell June was good stuff. A little blues, a little country, some rock and roll, with a great raspy voice at the lead vocals and a smooth creamy timbre of a vocal on the keyboard. Solos were had by all and it was a most impressive stage show as they ran around impressing the front row. Two thumbs up for these guys. Definitely a band to watch for in the future.
There was a brief break as they did some stage tear-down. A guy with an Australian accent came out on the stage and laid some pretty heavy guilt trips on the audience to sponsor a child through Food for the Hungry. I’ve thought about how I would describe this segment of the show, but I’ve come to realize that my cynicism of this system goes both ways, so I’m going to leave it alone. But you’ve all seen it before. They tell a few jokes about shiny turds, make you feel bad for the kids, play you a video where the audio doesn’t come through the system, and leave with a prayer.
As he left the stage the lights went down for a few minutes. I decided this was a good time to make for the bathroom. I almost made it out of the sanctuary when the house lights went completely off and the spots turned back on. People started to cheer and then it happened Petra took the stage. Bob on stage left, John center, the bass player stage right and the drummer on a 5’ riser behind them all centered. I suppressed my urges and ran back to my seat, unwilling to miss a single second of this concert for the sake of my bodily functions. “Underneath the Blood” started with the thunderous, immediately recognizable guitar riff. The drums were really hot in the mix, just how I like ‘em. Bob’s guitar tone was magnanimous. Bob played his Jekyll & Hyde guitar, a beautiful Les Paul body style with a black/gray flamed maple top and screachingly hot pickups with trem locks. What a piece of art made by Bob himself. Oh if only I could afford one. Crossroads Church had spared no expense either. Wireless in-ear monitors, wireless UHF mics, top-of-the-line intellibeam lighting system, and the acoustic properties of the room were amazing. I don’t know if there could have been a better venue to see Petra at than this one. Dan, Mike and I sat about half way in the center of the pew for that row, just slightly stage right. But we had a great view and could hear everything crystal clear.
John’s vocals and the booming music overwhelmed me like a flood of nostalgia. Suddenly I was 12 years old again. And I could see it all over the sanctuary. 30, 40, 50 year olds all over were grinning ear to hear remembering when. Even the Greg X. Volz crowd had some appealing moments of songs from the 70’s. The night was truly magical. Sure the music was great, but more than that we were saying goodbye to the iconic Christian rock band of several generations the only way we knew how. They’d put on some pounds, but John had lost some from the pictures I’d seen of him not a year earlier. 
Bob’s beard now completely grey and the contrast was even more blatant as they played opposite a 20-something shaved-headed bass player and similarly aged drummer banging the snot out of those skins. John gave his usual gyrations of the head turning and the body moving he’s been doing since Beyond Belief. What would seem ridiculous being done by anybody else was a beautiful sight from John Schlitt. Anybody else would just be copying him. Bob performed very little movement from his side of the stage, though in the 4 times I’ve seen Petra live, I seem to remember thinking that’s a bit of a trademark for their live show. Perhaps capitalized on by his age, you’d never guess from his playing he was up in years. Bob’s still got it goin’ on! That guy can flat play and make it look like he’s not even thinking about it. The whole experience was so surreal I could hardly believe my own ears.
Petra did a few things that I don’t remember being part of past shows. Two medleys were played, one rock block and one unplugged acoustic set. They played an amazing version of “For Annie” and a great unplugged rendition of “No Doubt” that I really enjoyed too (and I was never a big No Doubt album fan). Dan & I would’ve preferred a full version of “I Am On the Rock” rather than an abbreviated version within the medley, but placement was good and the transitions were flawless. As one song after another came up entirely different age groups would stand and cheer. Some times an older generation would look to us wondering what we were cheering about equally anxious to hear song was playing, and other times younger generations would do the same. A dozen or so teenage front-row-rowdies were banging their heads to the rock their parents listened to as kids. It must’ve been something to stand on that stage, after 33 years of playing music, and still seeing the under-18 crowd totally getting into the music you wrote decades ago. The jumbotrons on either side of the stage panned the audience infrequently and often provided close-ups of the blazing fingers of Bob Hartman’s guitar work. Pure genius. The aspiration of guitar players all over the country was giving his last performance for me ever. I held back tears after nearly every song from the Beyond Belief-Unseen Power-Wake Up Call era.
John at one point made mention that there were so many songs that so many different people wanted to hear that it was really hard to decide what would comprise their set list. You got the feeling like he really knew there were people depending on them to give them one more live play of their favorite tune. To sing along with the band just one last time. For me, well I had several, but the most obvious one, “Beyond Belief”. Towards the end of the pre-encore set they presented the crowd with a drum solo worthy of Louie Weaver. Paul Simmons had his own style. He wore no batting gloves and sported no Mickey Mouse paraphernalia, but was obviously a very good drummer in his own right. And he played like Louie would have at 25. All night I’d kept an ear out for the clean guitar arpeggiated riff that started Beyond Belief. Bob tripped me up when he started it with the distorted chorus riff. Different from what I expected but still the awesome experience I always hoped hearing it for the last time would be. See, I’d been avoiding Petra concerts since Bob left the band. I pretty much gave up on an opportunity to see Bob play it again live. So it was a bit of a dream come true. I screamed like one of those Beatlemania girls in 1964.
Dan took some notes while I was enthralled. I helped him identify a few songs. Here's the complete set list, thanks to
Dan:
1. Underneath the Blood
2. Dance
3. Your Love Came Down
4. Test of Time
5. Creed
6. Judas' Kiss
7. You're in the Right Place
8. Medley:
a. Sight Unseen
b. It is Finished
c. Think Twice
d. I am on the Rock
e. Midnight Oil f. Mine Field
g. This Means War
h. It is Finished (reprise)
9. Jekyll and Hyde
Acoustic Medley Set:
10. Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows
11. Road to Zion
12. More Power To Ya
13. For Annie
14. No Doubt
15. The Coloring Song
16. Love
Transition:
17. I am a "C"
Solos
18. Beyond Belief
19. Lord, I Lift Your Name on High
Encore:
20. He Came, He Saw, He Conquered
21. We Need Jesus
22. Show Your Power
Bob's TestimonyAll-in-all definitely an experience I’ll always cherish. I tried to take several pictures but most of them turned out pretty lousy because where we were seated and the lights. Pictures don’t do it justice anyway. If you’re a Petra fan, or have been a Petra fan at any time, this is a show you don’t want to miss. I may come back and add to this posting throughout the week as I think of things I need to say, for prosperity’s sake before my memory starts to let go of some of the details to make room.
For those interested and for those that missed it, there will be a live CD and DVD set released. Look for the "Farewell" album.
Bazooka-Joe made it so at 11:46 AM
