Two Professional Women In Two Different Venues

Two Professional Women In Two Different Venues

By

Leonard Zwelling

Readers of the blog know that I love P!nk, the popular singer whose real name is Alicia Beth Moore.

How much do I love P!nk? On Saturday, November 3, the BW and I flew to Austin and stayed with my son and daughter-in-law all just to see P!nk at the 15,000 seat Moody Center on the campus of UT Austin. The venue is where the Longhorns play basketball and is much smaller than Minute Maid Park where we last saw P!nk in September of 2023. She is still on the world-wide tour that took her to Houston a year ago and now to Austin. It’s way more fun to see her in the smaller space, even as it was full of people.

P!nk played the same set she played in Houston, but on a smaller stage as this venue could not accommodate what Minute Maid could. It didn’t matter. We have seen her five times now and she never ceases to amaze and never fails to deliver. That’s what professionalism is—a performance that exceeds expectations and is always great.

Not only can P!nk sing and dance, but she flies over the arena in a harness while singing and tumbling in the air. And despite the huge expanse of performance space she manages to establish a rapport with the crowd immediately and never lets go.

P!nk is 45 now and I am not sure for how much longer she can soar above the heads of the crowd and perform acrobatics in mid-air while singing. It really doesn’t matter because her music is so good that she could put on a great show with a small band on an empty stage. Nonetheless, I am already looking forward to her next visit to Houston and hope she is still flying then.

Unfortunately, P!nk needs shoulder surgery as she has been performing with a torn bicep and then she will have knee surgery for a torn meniscus.  She had to cancel her last few scheduled shows because she was in so much pain. It’s all on Instagram. She says she will be back better than ever. I hope so.

Three days later we saw a professional woman of a completely different ilk, but equally polished. I have seen Bonnie Raitt at least four times over the years dating back to a concert at Wolf Trap in Virginia, near D.C. in about 1978. That was long before Nick of Time and all those Grammys. Her voice has not diminished a wit in the 45 or so years and she plays guitar like nobody’s business.

Bonnie Raitt performed at the Hobby Center, a much smaller venue than P!nk’s. She did not fly or tumble. She just played. Just like P!nk she was professional in every way with an amazing sounding band and a catalogue of 50 years of music from which to draw. But again, she exceeded expectations, sounded amazing for a 75-year-old woman, and can still play her way around most everyone else.

Both of these woman define professionalism. They are rehearsed, polished, have rapport with the audience, and rise to ever greater heights with each time we see them.

If we doctors want to be more professional, perhaps we can take a cue from performers like these two women. Know your craft. Know your audience. Rehearse. Try to get better with every encounter.