Hello I'm Dolly Tour

Infobox concert tour
concert_tour_name = Hello I'm Dolly Tour


image_caption =Dolly singing "Hello I'm Dolly," the opening number of the show.
artist = Dolly Parton
start_date = October 14 2004
end_date = December 19 2004
number_of_legs = 1
number_of_shows = 36 in United States
3 in Canada
39 in total
last_tour = Halos & Horns Tour
(2002)
this_tour = Hello I'm Dolly Tour
(2004)
next_tour = The Vintage Tour
(2005)

The Hello I'm Dolly Tour in 2004 was Dolly Parton's first concert tour since 2002, her first major tour in a decade, and her largest tour in two decades.

History

After staging the very intimate, club-set Halos & Horns Tour in 2002, Parton returned with a venture on a much larger scale. The Hello I'm Dolly Tour included new lighting, costumes, and included huge screens on the sides of the stage for each venue. Parton said:

“The show itself has every color of me in it, from gospel to bluegrass to country to the bigger production numbers, and to the pop hits that I've been fortunate to do through the years. I think there will be something for everybody. I wanted to do it in a big way so all of us can enjoy it. My band and I are really looking forward to this!”

The tour was originally slated to promote "Blue Smoke", which was to be Parton's new CD. The album was scheduled to include a mix of new Parton material ("I Dreamed About Elvis", "Blue Smoke") as well as covers of older songs ("Imagine", "Me & Bobby McGee"). The album was supposed to be released after the tour was over, presumably in the beginning of the 2005. Those plans were pushed back however because of Parton's involvement with writing the score to the "9 to 5" musical. It did eventually come to fruition, albeit becoming an album composed entirely of covers and was renamed "Those Were The Days".

Regardless, "Blue Smoke" remains a fan favorite and was incredibly well received during these concerts. "I Dreamed About Elvis" is a Parton composed song, also slated to appear on the never released "Blue Smoke". The song details the oft told story that Elvis Presley wanted to record "I Will Always Love You". Those plans never came to fruition. It too was well-received during these shows.

The show

All shows were in theatre-style seating with special large-screen video presentations, wall curtains, lighting and carpeting brought in for these specific concerts. The opening act (and six out of the 10 members of Dolly's backing band for her concerts) were then newbluegrass band The Grascals.

Dolly wore three different costumes throughout the tour. All basically the same style, they were white, blue, and pink. Costume changes happened on stage, by Dolly using "add-ons." She added a flowy skirt for the piano numbers, a hippee skirt for the covers, and a country style type skirt for the "Tennessee Mountain Home" segment. For the encore, Dolly returned wearing a flowy, accordion sleeve robe.

She played piano on stage for the first time on "The Grass Is Blue" (and later "Brand New Key") and for "Baby It's Cold Outside, her longtime back up singer Richard Dennison filled in for Rod Stewart with Dolly climbing up on the piano with a martini glass and cigarette as a lounge torch singer. Kenny Rogers pre-recorded dialogue and vocals for a segment on their duets, during which Dolly operated a Kenny ventriloquist's dummy (although only on the first few dates of the tour. New covers included in the show were "Imagine" and "Me And Bobby McGee."

Tour dates

* * Denotes Sold Out Show

et list

The set list for the show was changed around quite a bit during the length of the tour. The "Mountain Home" segment, which often occurs towards the beginning of Parton's shows actually ended the shows in the first half of the tour. And in a very surprising move, at many of the East Coast shows, Parton moved "I Will Always Love You," normally her last song (before an encore) to the middle of the show. (This was to coincide with "I Dreamed About Elvis.")

When the tour returned from a Thanksgiving hiatus in the beginning of December, songs were added and the usual format that Parton had used in earlier tours was reinstated with the "Mountain Home" segment pushed up to its normal place and "I Will Always Love You" again used as the last song before an encore.

"Islands in the Stream" was sung with a Kenny Rogers puppet using pre recorded vocals from Rogers. The puppet was used at only a few of the shows during the East Coast portion of the show and subsequently dropped from the setlist.

Opening Night

This was the setlist from the opening night show in Greenville, South Carolina.

#Hello I'm Dolly
#Two Doors Down (abbreviated)
#9 to 5 (abbreviated)
#Hits Medley (Jolene, Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That, Here You Come Again)
#The Grass Is Blue (on piano)
#Baby, It's Cold Outside (with Richard Dennison)
#I Dreamed About Elvis
#Viva Las Vegas (with the Grascals)
#PMS Blues
#Blue Smoke
#Go to Hell
#Me & Bobby McGee
#Imagine
#Islands in the Stream (with Kenny Rogers dummy)
#My Tennessee Mountain Home
#Coat of Many Colors
#Smoky Mountain Memories
#Thank God I'm a Country Girl
#Little Sparrow (a capella)
#I Will Always Love You
#Hello God (Encore)

Other songs performed

Other songs that were performed at some, not all, shows,

#Brand New Key
#Burnin' Love
#Welcome Home
#When Johnny Comes Marching Home
#Shine
#Rocky Top

References

* [http://www.dollymania.net/hellotourrelease.html Dollymania]
* [http://www.raredolly.com/review_details.asp?id_no=23 Greenville Review]
* [http://www.raredolly.com/review_details.asp?id_no=14 San Jose Review]
* [http://www.raredolly.com/review_details.asp?id_no=18 State College Review]

ee also

*The Grascals