U2

[Drunk Monk]

For some odd reason, I was assigned to a field team, but I didn't really care as I was there to see the show and pick up the RM gear for KFTC25 AF.  RM likes to assign me to nooBs so I can regale them with tales of days gone by or some crap.  Whatev.  I'm happy just to tag along and let them to the heavy lifting.  Our team leader, Gregg, was an older guy, a gung ho EMT type that got into the trade to fill his empty nest after his kids went to college - RM 1.5 years.  The other member was a cute UC Berkeley gal, Lauren, Asian which made me wonder if the Field team leader was grouping us by race, and it was her first show.  I let them both have the radios because they were headsets that muffle the music, and they wanted it.  We missed several calls because neither of them could use them.  Gregg was chatty, and gave long lectures on how RM works to young Lauren, who was politely attentive.  He'd leave openings for me to chime in, very deferentially, and his take on what psych does was very amusing.  Our reputation has become so caricature in RM, but we perpetuate it.  We were stationed in NW tunnel for M&S, but worked our way onto the floor for U2.  

I saw the entire show from the floor.  It was a blessing.

They opened with a few tunes under minimal spotlights, and then lit up the biggest HDTV so far.  I was front of stage on a phantom call when they launched into Joshua Tree.  Images of Joshua Tree were projected with monochromatic images of the band, which doesn't sound like much, but it was dazzling and nostalgic after being there.  U2, as always, was on fire.  Bono's searing vocals, the Edge's blistering riffs and church-chime guitar work, Mullen's charging percussion, & Clayton's anchoring boom - all on point.  They play as live and fresh as ever, finding new meaning in every musical phrase.  Once again, they blew me away.  After Joshua Tree, they played some scenes from that Trump Wall Trackdown episode, and then went into their political stuff, a lot of Women Power and Middle East images, all very moving as I am partial to their politics.  There was an intriguing short video about the Middle East, showing the wreckage of the world, and at one point, a massive sheet image of a woman in Burka (might have been Malala) was passed along the perimeter of the 100s section (it covered the whole section) - that was cool. 

I got hugged by a lot of women.  Ran into some moms from Tara's middle school who were partying it up, as well as a Deadhead recently-divorced mom who I dated a few times like three decades ago, and then, of course, the Rock Med senior nurses, who also knew our dearly departed Steve.  Steve kept the circle of those who knew he was in hospice small, just me, Raz and John from RM, so when word went out via facebook yesterday, the veteran RMers were rocked.  All day I was checking my feed, getting condolences and such.  Those nurses knew I knew and like medics, wanted the ringdown.  Penny, the widow of our former Director Dr. Skip, said tearfully that now Skip, Bob (Steve's dad and one of the best talkdown artists I've ever worked with - a professional negotiator by trade) and Steve were surely attending a ballgame together now.  That made us all misty.  Okay, gotta stop now.  Getting misty again.  Back to work.  Mourn later.  

U2 = good medicine