Dolly:

My Dolly experience was surreal. The evening was filled with atmospheric atomized drizzle, a mist really a slow steady mist and the temperature was a warm sixty-eight degrees. I was prepared for anything wearing a black silk raincoat, black cashmere sweater and black velvet pants. Sorry no cameras were allowed so no pictures. I did snap a few while mincing about town the next day. See below.

Dolly was amazing. She emerged wearing a white pantsuit with lots of shimmer. I expected the set to be all new material but she only included a handful. Highlights were Coat of Many Colors, Nine to Five, Two doors Down, Islands in the Stream and to top off the night she outro’d with, I Will Always Love You.

That Dolly is a trooper. I think the mist was an incredible acoustic amplifier and acted like a strange lozenge that soothed the voice with every inhalation. I was expecting her to cut it short but no not our Miss Dolly. At one point I thought maybe she was using some sort of (dare I say it) tape and was just lip-syncing. Not Dolly. She’s really a great live performer and can hit every note even better than the recordings. It’s probably the first time I thought that to myself during a concert, “Damn she sounds incredible live.”

She plays a lot of instruments. Did you know that? She does. Picking away at her guitar and then she sat for a while and picked away at her dulcimer, piped away on a tin whistle and then played away on the pi-annie. Her musicians were first rate and at one point they all sang A-Chapel-a. Between each set she told amusing stories about her Grandmother and her life growing up. The best story she told was that she never plans to retire. She plans to just keel over while playing away at her music on the stage. That’s the concert I wish to see.