Great news for Stryper fans!

bassgod76 · #1 09-24-2009, 11:17 AM

TRACY FERRIE WILL NOT BE PLAYING ON TOUR

AUGUST 7, 2009 - Bassist Tracy Ferrie will not be performing on the U.S. leg of the Stryper tour. Instead, original bassist Timothy Gaines will be the sole bass player. What was originally planned as a 2-set show, will now be one full 90-minute show, consisting of all the greatest hits and new Stryper material. The band will be wearing new yellow and black outfits designed by the original outfit designer. All original members, Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, Oz Fox, and Tim Gaines will be performing on the 25th Anniversary U.S. tour.
Tracy has made the very honorable decision, one in which we support, to put the needs of his family first. Contrary to what many may believe, most professional musicians (especially those with families) have other jobs when their band is not touring. And in order to provide for their families, they often need to find other means of work during non-touring times.

We are living in extremely difficult economic times whereby finding a good day-job is difficult. Tracy has a great one. One that provides well for his family. Leaving this job could put his family in a tough situation upon returning from tour. We support Tracy in this decision to ensure security for his family. At the same time, we're excited to get back out on the road and share our new music and the 25th Anniversary show with our friends and fans whom we have not seen in a long time.
We're honored to have been doing this for 25 years and blessed to have the opportunity to go out on tour this fall. Without you, our friends and fans, we would not have lasted this long. Thank you. See you on the road soon.

Stryper

RobertPaulson · #2 09-24-2009, 11:21 AM

Stryper has fans?

jaywa · #3 09-24-2009, 11:24 AM

Last I heard Michael Sweet was touring with Boston. Not sure I would have given up that gig for this one.

bassgod76 · #4 09-24-2009, 11:27 AM

Stryper has a huge following. Hell Richard Christie on the Howard Stern show mentions them a lot.

Well, Stryper has a whole bunch of tour dates so I'm not sure what happened to the Boston gig.

basswave · #5 09-24-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

Last I heard Michael Sweet was touring with Boston. Not sure I would have given up that gig for this one.

Boston is not touring at this time.
Michael is only touring for 3 months I believe and is still a member of Boston.

jaywa · #6 09-24-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basswave

Boston is not touring at this time.
Michael is only touring for 3 months I believe and is still a member of Boston.

That's pretty cool. Worked out well for Michael, then.

RobertPaulson · #7 09-24-2009, 11:41 AM

Stryper is the goofy christian hair metal band right?

basswave · #8 09-24-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertPaulson

Stryper is the goofy christian hair metal band right?

Well maybe so...Or at least they where.
It does not matter great players.

BTW: All the folks in the Boston lineup are always currently working on other projects.

lowendblues · #9 09-24-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertPaulson

Stryper has fans?

LOL!

Top_Ten · #10 09-24-2009, 11:48 AM

I saw Stryper open for Anthrax at the Country Club in Reseda, CA in about '84 or '85. That was an odd combination of bands. In those days, Anthrax fans were pretty hardcore, and they did not really go for having bibles thrown at them! I gotta say, though, while Stryper was not really my thing, they could really play.

**Eric Perry** · #11 09-24-2009, 11:49 AM

While Michael Sweet has a great voice, him *trying* (I say trying because there's not a chance in hell he ever would) to replace Bradley Delp was just pathetic, IMO. Man I absolutely cannot stand Tom Scholz!!!

bassgod76 · #12 09-24-2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertPaulson

Stryper is the goofy christian hair metal band right?

Stryper was pretty revolutionary as they set Christian music on its head. As a Christian since early childhood, I spent many summers, as a child going to Christian music festivals. There was nothing significant or remotely, musically edgy until Stryper. To be able to cross over from the safety of the Christian bubble and attract secular fans is quite a feat. Goofy? Not anymore than the other glam bands of the time.

jaywa · #13 09-24-2009, 11:52 AM

Michael's voice never really did it for me. I always felt like he and Dennis DeYoung from Styx were separated at birth as far as that goes. In fact I would have much expected him to turn up touring with Styx rather than with Boston... he would have been a perfect replacement for DeYoung.

Robert Sweet was a good drummer (though when I listen to their stuff 25 years later, not quite a solid with the timekeeping as I thought when I was younger), and fun to watch. Tim Gaines was a good bass player who was always buried in the mix both live and on record. Oz Fox... meh... there were a zillion out there just like him back in that time with the whole "compressed bumblebee" tone.

**john turner** · #14 09-24-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Perry

While Michael Sweet has a great voice, him *trying* (I say trying because there's not a chance in hell he ever would) to replace Bradley Delp was just pathetic, IMO. Man I absolutely cannot stand Tom Scholz!!!

scholz is entitled to have a career. it's not like he fired delp

.

and he did ok, in the youtubes i've seen.

jaywa · #15 09-24-2009, 11:55 AM

And honestly, compared to some of the truly awful Christian hair metal bands I saw in the 80s, Stryper was pretty solid musically.

**JoshB** · #16 09-24-2009, 11:57 AM

I actually helped with sound for Stryper about 5 years ago at Cornerstone Music Festival...they can still play their butts off! It wasn't really my thing, but man, credit where credit is due!

waynobass · #17 09-24-2009, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassgod76

The band will be wearing new yellow and black outfits designed by the original outfit designer.

So they'll look like this:

bassgod76 · #18 09-24-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waynobass

So they'll look like this:

LOL!!!!!!!!

jaywa · #19 09-24-2009, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassgod76

The band will be wearing new yellow and black outfits designed by the original outfit designer.

I'm going to guess somewhat more material will be required this time around.

**Eric Perry** · #20 09-24-2009, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john turner

scholz is entitled to have a career. it's not like he fired delp

...

Never said he wasn't. I just don't like him. I've seen Boston before and was a big fan for some time, and to me, Sholz was a huge egocentric attention whore that cared very little about others. The live shows *had* to be all about Tom Sholz. When I read interviews where he has said he feels uncomfortable with the attention I want to puke! Even the comments he made following Brad's (incredibly saddening and untimely) death just sounded SO fake to me. To my ears, Sholz cared that Brad died mainly because he was a meal ticket for the band. Strong words, I'm aware. Can't convince me otherwise though.

If it weren't for Bradley Delp, none of us would have ever heard of the band Boston. I think very few of us would disagree with that.

And regarding Sweet, his voice was way to shrill to replace Delp. That tone was perfect in the 80's hair metal music, but not for a band like Boston.