America's most popular Christian rock band PETRA paid a visit to these fair shores recently. Mike Rimmer was on hand to witness the event and talk to the guys.

Petra

The crowd at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre is smaller than it was last year when America's most successful Christian rock act first graced these shores with their presence. Perhaps last year it was curiosity that crammed the sports hall full of punters. This year it's the die-hard fans that are making an enthusiastic racket as the new look Petra bounce onto the boards and crank up the suitably titled "Enter In", the opening song from their new album 'No Doubt'.

For a band that has just lost its lead guitarist and only remaining founder member in the shape of the no longer touring Bob Hartman, Petra are very self assured live and the sound of the band is grungier than before. New axe man David Lichens looks as though he has always been there and his energetic playing and enthusiastic stage performance are a highlight of the concert.

Earlier in the day, at their hotel on the outskirts of Birmingham, I chatted with relative new boy Jim Cooper (in the band two years now) and veteran drummer Louie Weaver who after 14 years is the longest serving current member of Petra. Lichens is just the latest example of how Petra have changed personnel over the years and still managed to maintain high quality rock'n'roll. Jim Cooper and singer John Schlitt discovered the guitarist whilst Schlitt was playing solo dates. There was something of the timing of God as Lichens got friendly with Cooper since Hartman had just told the band he would be coming off the road. Although not the only guitarist the band considered, one audition later Lichens was in the band.

With Cooper being the previous new boy I wondered whether Jim helped the latest recruit to settle in? He says, "I think I did, since I was the one who met him first. Between the time I met him and the time he auditioned, it was three weeks and most of the guys don't even know this but for that whole time he was calling me from Oregon every day for an hour." Cooper pauses and chuckles, "I'd hate to see his phone bill. He was real excited about the opportunity so I did help him through a lot of things and he is fairly young. He's younger than I was and he's younger than Ronny was when we joined the band." Weaver interjects, "I wasn't anywhere near a major band when I was 21 years old. I was in a garage."

David Lichens comes from the north west of the USA and has brought an element of the rawer Seattle sound into the band. Petra have always had the ability to mutate and change as rock music trends have shifted and the addition of the new guitarist has simply allowed Petra to develop a sound which still feels fresh despite the longevity of the band. On stage they play with renewed passion, as Cooper explains, "We're just having fun and I think it's translating very well to the audience as well."

I wondered whether it meant that now the boss man Hartman was no longer on tour they could have more fun with what they are doing on stage? Cooper refers to John Schlitt, "Unfortunately we have a new boss." Both Cooper and Weaver dissolve into fits of laughter. Weaver takes it up, "I think we always had fun, it's just that musically David, and Jim for that matter, are bringing in a youthful attitude we didn't have for the last few years. We worked hard at what we did, we honed it and we played it just like we thought it but now sometimes we get on stage and we're jamming and we say, 'Hey! Let's play!'"

Petra's performance at Birmingham had no support act, just two elongated sets from the band. They opened the second half with a blistering version of "Good News" which probably loosened the building's brickwork. Halfway through the song, John Schlitt leaves the stage to leave Lichens leading the band in a jam. Anyone doubting the boy's plank spanking abilities will have had their fears alleviated by this demonstration, Lichens is a worthy successor to Bob Hartman.

I wondered if it felt strange on stage to look around and see that Bob isn't there? Cooper lets on that he doesn't normally see a great deal on stage. "It's because of my hair but what I do see is three guys going nuts." I can vouch for that! Lichens, bass player Ronny Cates, John Schlitt and Cooper himself are constantly moving around the stage and there seems to be some friendly banter between Schlitt and the rest of the band. Much fun!

Bob Hartman's role within Petra has now radically changed. He spends a great deal of time liaising with churches raising Petra's profile and while the band tour, he is already writing songs for the next album. Releasing Hartman from the tour, then album, tour, then album treadmill will only make Petra a more powerful band when it comes to communicating the gospel so everybody wins.

Singer John Schlitt's role within Petra has changed now that he has taken over the leadership of the band. Once he was one of the boys, now he's the boss so how have things changed? Weaver responds, "He worries more now." (more fits of laughter...) Cooper continues, "He's still learning how to be the boss and we're still learning how to let him be the boss. We're still going through some growing here. The band is five guys even though people sometimes think it's just the lead singer. We're five guys and we all have a say so but there's always got to be someone where the buck stops and we accept that he is the buck stopper. He's trying to find out when to say and when to not."

Later when I met Schlitt backstage, the first thing he asks me is how the interview with Cooper and Weaver went! Schlitt is excited about Petra. "This band still has a lot left to do and the new line up will take us into the 21st century!" Clearly within the band Schlitt is the target for a huge amount of teasing. When I point out that in the song "Two Are Better Than One" Schlitt sings, "I don't wanna go solo," Weaver and Cooper erupt into huge guffaws of laughter. Cooper suggests that Hartman deliberately wrote that line into the song. Interestingly, when they play the song during their performance, Schlitt, whose singing is always accompanied by the nearest rock singer can get to the gentle art of gurning delivers the line with a look of confused irony! A nice moment.

Both Cooper and Weaver are diplomatically supportive when it comes to Schlitt's solo album and there are plans for Petra to play one of Schlitt's solo songs in their live set. Cooper explains, "Word (their record company) wants us to do it and John wants us to." Weaver concedes, "It's a good song too." Cooper continues, "We're starting to practice that at sound checks during this tour." Rather mischievously I suggest that Petra should become Schlitt's permanent backing band for his solo career. Cooper responds, "That would be too confusing!" Emphatically he continues, "There's no way! We're already his band as far as he says... All the time!" Cooper and Weaver burst into laughter again. "That's one of the things we're still trying to correct him on." How does his solo career affect the rest of the band? Cooper grins, "It just gives us something else to kid him on."

Jim Cooper's own arrival in Petra came via a stint as part of the Petra road crew. "I played in a couple of Christian bands before I was keyboard tech for John Laurie in Petra. I was also the bass tech for Ronny and I got to do that for about a year and a half. It was a good learning experience; I got to learn how everything worked. It was good." Louie Weaver pays tribute to Cooper joining the band, "Jim's was the smoothest transition of anybody I've ever seen come in the band because he'd been around us for so long. He knew the keyboard parts off by heart so when he came in he played the parts and there was nothing lost, it was a great feeling."

What was life like as a road crewmember? Cooper is honest in his assessment. "It was good and it was bad because I had known for a while that the desire God had given me was to be a player and I knew that was what I was going to be and sometimes it was hard for me to see Johnny and the rest of the guys on stage and I was wanting to be there and that was hard. But it was still an honour for me to work for Petra because Petra had always been my favourite band and it had always meant so much to me."