Larry Norman Message Board

Summer 1980: our honeymoon brought my wife and me to the Greenbelt festival in England. One of the announced top-acts was Larry Norman. There were many rumors before the festival whether Larry will show up or not. Finally he did. 20000 people expected a hot rock concert, but he entered the huge stage only with his old accoustic guitar (as always out of tune, one of his trademarks).This night he was preaching more than he was singing, but the audience was somehow paralyzed and listened without moving. What a remarkable concert.

A year later we met the first time. Friends on Tour hit Germany and I promoted 5 concerts. I got to know a very friendly person who always used to listen very closely. All the concerts had an apocalyptic touch. There were no encores and Larry finished every night with I wish we'd all been ready, ending with a brutal keyboard sound until there was no more applause.

Three years later I met Larry again at the Greenbelt festival. He brought a superb band with him featuring Dan Cutrona and Bob Somma. The audience enjoyed a tight concert with an angry singer and preacher, who tore his T-Shirt apart at the end. He felt limited because the promotor did not want him to preach. My friend Frank van der Gaag and I started right away to plan a tour which brought Larry in December 84 to England, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. One of the concerts has been recorded and some of the songs can be seen on the DVD Face to Face.

In the 90s I stopped my promotion activities because of my family and kids, but I never lost contact with Larry. We saw each other again at Cornerstone 2001 and it was incredible how close we both felt even after more than 10 years. It was fascinating, how many details Larry was able to recall.

In 2007 Larry came back to Germany to do his last concerts here. He was physically weak, to weak for a strong hug, but his mind was wide-awake. I knew that this was our last meeting. It was very sincere and personal. His physical weakness was blown away on stage. My son saw him the next night and wrote me a SMS right after the concert: Unbelievable ... one of the best concerts I have ever seen. And he has attended many concerts.

It is a colourful picture with many facets that remains: Larry, a guy that drove every soundman crazy, someone who loved children, who preached very clearly without getting dogmatic. An artist who loved his audience, who told funny stories which made you always laugh , who wrote brilliant lyrics and songs, who knew how to deal with irony and sarkasm. A person with many edges always motivated by his love to Jesus which he shared with his audience.

I am very sad that one of the best and most important christian artist had gone way too soon, but the certitude where he is now is much stronger than all the grief. Larry, I thank you very much for all the concerts, meetings, telephone calls and discussions. These are precious memories for me.