Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1988 00:40:18 -0500
To: lostchords@shore.net
From: "Marjorie J. Clarke" <mclarke@hunter.cuny.edu>
Subject: Trop Review - History in the Making!
Cc: mclarke@hunter.cuny.edu
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Hi Gang! 
It's the part of the Moodyfest band here, Maggie Clarke, Betsy Kishlansky,
Shelley Giblin, and Pat Olsen.  We just got back to our hotel room still
basking in the glow, euphoric, dazed and confused, and pleased beyond
description, but we'll describe it anyway.  First off, I learned on my way
down here that the Moodies had been PRACTICING(!) for THREE DAYS at the
Tower theater in Philly, and boy did it show.  The program started with
Lovely to See You, with Norda Mullen and Paul Bliss on guitars.  It only
got better from there.  Are You Sitting Comfotably had Norda and Gordon on
dueling flutes during an extended solo; it was beautiful.  Graeme changed
his poem to honor the astronauts who perished in the Columbia space
shuttle:  Higher and Higher!  It was absolutely fantastic and the highlight
of the show.  Justin did his tricky leads through it and Graeme was dancing
around the front with his tambourine, cackling all the way.  The jam was
quite extended, and Graeme ended up finishing the song playing his drums
from a standing position.  The audience went crazy standing and cheering,
and it just kept going on and on.  There may be a new time to rush to the
front now (even though this was in the first half of the show).  John
reintroduced Lean on Me, but this time Justin was playing his white Squire,
filling the verses with little reverse strums.  Justin introduced "The
Actor" by making brief explanation about Ray's absence (telling us nothing
we didn't know already) and that this was one of Ray's favorite songs, and
introducing Norda at that time.  Because Ray was missing, I'm Just a Singer
was changed a bit at the end, to John singing the line, then Justin singing
the line, then both singing the line, and then the final line I got the
impression that they wanted the audience to sing we're all singers in a
rock and roll band.  Of course the Beatle bit was gone without Ray there.
The Story in Your Eyes still had a dino shuffle, though with just two
dinos.  Betsy and Pat reporting from the left side, indicated that the mood
was a bit somber during much of the  show, but the H&H jam and the Band's
hard work to fill the void left by Ray was appreciated by the fans.
Reporting from the right side, I can tell you that we were just as crazy
for the Jays we usually are.  Norda's flute playing was excellent, as was
her guitar playing and singing.  She was located in Ray's spot on the
stage, except for See-Saw where she stood near Bernie, and that seemed to
fit.  There were new and interesting backgrounds this time, turning Justin,
Bernie and Narda green during the Other Side of Life.  The drum toss went
off as usual, and I got some nice shots of Graeme catching sticks.  I got 2
rolls with my manual camera and am trying out yet another digital, and got
a bunch of nice shots, particularly of the Higher and Higher jam.  All of
them really got into that!  To sum up, the three days of practice and the
willingness to try out new material and experiment with extended new solos
and jams has really breathed new life into the Band, and we're grateful.