Five Reasons Why You Should Be Buying Tickets To Dolly Parton’s Concert This Week

Dolly Parton is ‘The Queen of Country’ (she’s also Miley Cyrus’ ‘fairy godmother‘, but we’ve talked about Miley enough lately). After her first Australian tour in 30 years was met with praise and sold-out crowds back in 2011, she’s decided to return in early 2014. If 2011’s Better Day World Tour is anything to go by then country devotees and gay men will be the most excited beyond belief — I should know, I’m both and seeing her in concert was one of the highlights of my life.

My history with Parton is long. I initially knew her from her film work: three-tissue weepie Steel Magnolias (1989) and Nine To Five (1980) predominantly, not to mention its famous theme song. It wasn’t until my musical palate expanded beyond the typical Top 40 stylings that I got into her extensive catalogue of over 70 albums and a variety of genres. There’s country, bluegrass, pop, disco, rock ‘n’ roll, and also the greatest cover version of all time. Since then I’ve listened to each and every one of those albums repeatedly, owned many on CD and vinyl, seen her in concert and watched all of her movies, attended the Broadway adaptation of Nine To Five for which she wrote the score, and even gotten into arguments with people who don’t think her loss at the 1981 Academy Awards is one of civilisation’s darkest days.

Dolly is a feminist icon, a gay icon, a style icon, and obviously a music industry icon. She’s performed for presidents and their wives, as well as at Oscar ceremonies with a particularly boisterous Jack Nicholson in the front row. She’s an acclaimed actor who’s worked alongside Sally Field and Julia Roberts (Steel Magnolias), Queen Latifah (Joyful Noise, 2012), Sylvester Stallone (Rhinestone, 1984) and Burt Reynolds (The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, 1982). She’s been nominated for 45 Grammys and won seven. She’s received two Oscar nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, and Emmy and Tony nominations, too. She’s had no. 1 hit records and albums, wrote one of the highest selling singles of all time, and even opened her own theme park, Dollywood, in her home state of Tennessee. Her songs have been covered by The White Stripes, Olivia Newton-John, Ke$ha, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, RuPaul, and Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood. Furthermore, she’s received the highest accolade in the American arts, The Kennedy Center Honors.

Those are probably enough reasons why you should be buying a ticket to Dolly’s 2014 Blue Smoke World Tour when they go on sale this Friday, but here are five more.

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1. She Loves You, She Really Loves You

Dolly is just about the nicest person ever. This is a fact, so there’s no point trying to argue it. A consummate professional, her concerts are known to be big ol’ love-fests between Dolly and her fans, with the crowd inevitably enraptured as she details her poor Smoky Mountains upbringing in songs like ‘Coat Of Many Colors’. She knows she owes everything to the fans, and you can guarantee she’ll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed hoping you’ll leave satisfied.

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2. But She’s Still Able To Get Blue

Many of Dolly’s songs are about the blues, but she’s not shy of a blue joke every now and then, either. Even when telling stories of her poor upbringing, Dolly is still able to make a joke about her parents being “randy, horny hillbillies”. She might even bring out her most famous cinematic quote.

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3. Dolly Has No Shame

Perhaps more than anybody else in the business, Dolly’s ability to laugh at herself is second to none. She will reel off five gags about her plastic surgery, her large breasts, and her bad movies in the blink of an eye before anybody else has a chance. In 1984, she made the musical Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone and it was an instant, infamous flop that won her a Razzie Award for the song ‘Drinkenstein’. The guitarist in the background says it all.

Despite all of that, Dolly unashamedly cites her lyrical work on Rhinestone as some of her best. Listening to ‘What a Heartache‘, one of the best break-up songs ever written, it’s hard to argue. Razzie be damned!

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4. She Will Impart Wisdom

This woman knows her stuff!

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5. The Music, Duh

Yes, she’s funny and self-deprecating, poignant and tender, but underneath the wigs and the sequins and the boobs, there is one of the greatest musicians ever. You don’t come up with the tune to a classic like ‘Nine To Five’ on your fingernails without having a clue about writing music. And not just an unmatched lyricist, she also has an uncanny ability to take others’ songs and make them her own, like she did when she performed Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘Great Balls Of Fire’ on ABC’s Countdown in 1979.

And if you’re lucky maybe she’ll do something as incredible as this 1983 appearance on the iconic American music program Solid Gold, where she performed the disco smash ‘Potential New Boyfriend’.

Oh who are we kidding, everything she does is incredible.

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Dolly Parton Blue Smoke World Tour 2014:

Tuesday February 11 — Melbourne — Rod Laver Arena
Saturday February 15 — Hunter Valley, NSW — Hope Estate Winery
Tuesday February 18 — Sydney — Entertainment Centre
Friday February 21 — Brisbane — Entertainment Centre
Tuesday February 25 — Adelaide — Entertainment Centre
Thursday February 27 — Perth — Perth Arena

Tickets go on sale this Friday November 1 at 9am. Head here for full details.

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Glenn Dunks is a freelance writer and film critic from Melbourne, and currently based in New York City. His work has been seen online (Onya Magazine, Quickflix), in print (The Big Issue, Metro Magazine, Intellect Books Ltd’s World Film Locations: Melbourne), as well as heard on Joy 94.9.