Hello, I'm Dolly Tour

Hello, I'm Dolly Tour

Tour by Dolly Parton
Start date	October 14, 2004
End date	December 19, 2004
Legs	1
No. of shows	39 in North America
Dolly Parton concert chronology

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 album that was scheduled to include a mix of new Parton material ("I Dreamed About Elvis", "Blue Smoke") as well as new covers of older songs ("Imagine", "Me and 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 9 to 5: The Musical . It did eventually come to fruition, albeit becoming an album composed entirely of covers and was renamed Those Were The Days (2005).

"Blue Smoke" remains a fan favorite and was incredibly well received during these concerts. It was eventually released as the first single of her 2014 album Blue Smoke. "I Dreamed About Elvis" is a Parton-composed song that details the oft-told story that Elvis Presley wanted to record "I Will Always Love You"; those plans were never realized. 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 ten members of Dolly's backing band for her concerts) were then-new bluegrass band The Grascals.

Parton wore three different costumes throughout the tour. All basically the same style, they were white, blue, and pink. Costume changes happened on stage, by Parton using "add-ons." She added a flowing 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, she 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"). She had recently recorded "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rod Stewart for his album Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III. During the show, her longtime back-up singer, and former brother-in-law, Richard Dennison filled in for Stewart with Parton climbing up on the piano with a martini glass and cigarette as a lounge torch singer. During a segment on her prior duets with Kenny Rogers, Parton operated a Rogers ventriloquist's puppet against pre-recorded dialogue by Rogers and later while singing (against pre-recorded vocals by Rogers) "Islands in the Stream". The puppet was used at only a few of the shows during the East Coast portion of the show and the song subsequently dropped from the setlist.

Opening act

• The Grascals

Setlist

The setlist 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.

Opening Night

1. "Hello, I'm Dolly"
2. "Two Doors Down" (abbreviated)
3. "9 to 5" (abbreviated)
4. Hits medley ("Jolene", "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That", "Here You Come Again")
5. "The Grass Is Blue" (on piano)
6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (with Richard Dennison)
7. "I Dreamed About Elvis"
8. "Viva Las Vegas" (with the Grascals)
9. "PMS Blues"
10. "Blue Smoke"
11. "Go to Hell"
12. "Me and Bobby McGee"
13. "Imagine"
14. "Islands in the Stream" (with Kenny Rogers puppet)
15. "My Tennessee Mountain Home"
16. "Coat of Many Colors"
17. "Smoky Mountain Memories"
18. "Thank God I'm a Country Girl"
19. "Little Sparrow" (a capella)
20. "I Will Always Love You"
21. "Hello God" (encore)

Other songs performed

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

1. "Brand New Key"
2. "Burnin' Love"
3. "Welcome Home"
4. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
5. "Shine"
6. "Rocky Top"

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Tickets sold / Available	Revenue
North America
October 14, 2004	Greenville	United States	Pepsi Pavilion
October 15, 2004	Atlanta		Fox Theatre
October 16, 2004	Biloxi		Biloxi Grand Theatre
October 17, 2004
October 19, 2004	Cleveland		Gund Arena
October 20, 2004	Columbus		Value City Arena
October 22, 2004	Rama	Canada	Casino Rama Entertainment Centre
October 23, 2004
October 24, 2004
October 26, 2004	Detroit	United States	Fox Theatre
October 27, 2004	Green Bay		Theatre at the Resch Center
October 29, 2004	Saint Paul		Theater at Xcel Energy Center
October 30, 2004	Omaha		Qwest Center Arena
October 31, 2004	St. Louis		The Concert Club
November 4, 2004	Raleigh		Moonlight Theater
November 6, 2004	Norfolk		Prism Theatre
November 7, 2004	Winston-Salem		New Theatre at The Joel Coliseum
November 11, 2004	East Rutherford		The Theater at CAA
November 12, 2004	Atlantic City		Circus Maximus Theater
November 13, 2004	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena
November 14, 2004	Fairfax		Patriot Center
November 17, 2004	Albany		Pepsi Arena
November 18, 2004	Philadelphia		Wachovia Spectrum
November 19, 2004	Wilkes-Barre		Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza
November 20, 2004	Reading		Reading Eagle Theater
November 21, 2004	University Park		Bryce Jordan Center
December 2, 2004	Austin		The Theatre at the Frank Erwin Center
December 3, 2004	Dallas		American Airlines Center	6,409 / 6,409	$261,225
December 5, 2004	Houston		Toyota Center	4,879 / 4,879	$228,737
December 7, 2004	Las Vegas		The Colosseum at Caesars Palace	3,979 / 3,979	$284,695
December 8, 2004	Phoenix		Dodge Theatre
December 9, 2004	Anaheim		Theatre at the Arrowhead Pond
December 10, 2004	San Jose		HP Pavilion at San Jose	6,409 / 6,409	$261,225
December 11, 2004	Reno		Hilton Theater
December 12, 2004	Sacramento		ARCO Arena	5,736 / 5,736	$259,724
December 16, 2004	Nampa		Idaho Center	5,762 / 5,762	$258,853
December 17, 2004	Portland		Theater of the Clouds	5,117 / 5,117	$196,068
December 18, 2004	Spokane		The Star Theatre at the Spokane Arena	5,608 / 5,608	$210,188
December 19, 2004	Everett		Everett Events Center	4,908 / 4,908	$257,719

Cancellations and rescheduled shows

December 2, 2004	San Antonio	Theater at the SBC Center	Moved to The Theatre at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas
December 19, 2004	Seattle	KeyArena	Moved to the Everett Events Center in Everett, Washington

Crew

• Monitor Engineer: Bryan Vasquez
• System Tech: Bryan W. Baxley
• FOH Engineer: Matt Naylor

External links

• Parton's Official Website

References

• Dollymania
• Greenville Review
• San Jose Review
• State College Review