Gatlin inspires fans at Nazarene church
Larry Gatlin could write a sad country song about the trouble he had just getting to North Fort Myers.
Following a show in Myrtle Beach, his bus got stuck in Charleston, S.C., then he had to find a plane that would get him to town, of which there were very few because of all the bad weather up north, and had to settle for a connecting flight. About the only things that didn’t happen were his wife leaving him and his dog dying.
But he made it, albeit a little bit tired, and put on a tremendous show in front of an almost packed house at the Church of the Nazarene on Saturday for an evening of song and gospel.
Gatlin, who with the Gatlin Brothers were among the top country music artists in the 70s and 80s, came to North Fort Myers to sing his classic songs, perform a little gospel and tell stories about his life and music with a combination of laughter and enlightenment in a 90-minute show that brought well over 400 people, many of whom had never been to the church before.
Among the classics that were mixed in with gospel were “Houston,” “I Don’t Want to Cry,” “Here Come the Teardrops,” “Broken Lady,” and “All the Gold in California,” one of his biggest hits. It was just him and his guitar, for the most part.
Toward the end he brought his old gospel buddy Larry Ford to help him sing gospel with some piano accompaniment before turning preacher and performing an open letter to “the bad guys” who threaten the Christian way of life.
People had an opportunity to greet Gatlin after the show and buy some of his music, which nearly sold out.
Most everyone there had a good time. Cathy Compton said she really enjoyed the show.
“He was fantastic. I never heard a guy who could sing as well as he does. It’s wonderful,” Compton said. “We have a whole bunch of people from Michigan who saw it and we were very happy with it.”
“He was fabulous and he was talking about Jesus and that was most important,” said Gene Hood.
“It was very inspirational. It’s amazing he can continue to sing and get to our hearts,” said Judy Rice. “He was also very funny. I great guy to be around.”
Pastor Van Garner, who risked quite a bit to bring such a big star to his church, nearly sold out the $25 seats ($35 if you wanted to meet and greet Gatlin), and will come out of it just fine financially and may have brought a few people to his church to boot.
He also felt fortunate there was even a show at all, considering what Gatlin had to go through to get here.
“It was entertaining and spiritual and uplifting. Always fun stuff. We had about 75 tickets left, but that’s OK. We did fine,” Garner said. “It was a real blessing. He had to jump through all kinds of hoops and we were thankful he was able to make it.”
The Church of the Nazarene is at 6781 Bayshore Road next to the Pritchett Farm. The church regularly brings in musical guests and concerts.