backwoods barbie

I went to see goshdarn Dolly Parton last night!

Her one-night only engagement had been postponed from March, a date for which my wise [and unlucky!] friend visiting from Sweden had purchased tickets for the two of us. But Dolly had back problems ("You would too, if you had to carry these puppies around," she was quoted as saying) and the concert was rescheduled for a week after Josefine's tourist visa ran out. Damn immigration is keeping the diehards and Dolly apart.

Nevertheless, I still got to attend (THANK YOU JO!) and it really was one of the most uplifting and entertaining experiences, um, ever. This wasn't just any ol' concert, see, it was an Evening with Dolly Parton. And boy was it ever sold out. The scene out front was rainy and chaotic, and while I was waiting outside for Sabrina to join me, the hit parade kept coming: hipsters, out-of-towners, homesexual hipsters, businesspeople, hipsters. One of the most diverse crowds I think I've ever seen at a live music event.

 And of course, there was big ol' Dolly, in her tininess, entertaining the crowd with her sweet jokes.

"You know, there are two kinds of women in the Smoky Mountains, back where I'm from. The kind that get married and have a lot of kids, and the kind that stay single...and have a lot of kids."

I was wrong not to be completely obsessed with this talented woman before this concert. She somewhow manages to be both ditzy and extremely intelligent and funny all at once. A woman who said that she hopes to never get written up in tabloids as, "'hospitalized with exhaustion'...because you know that just means drunk and crazy."

Of course, there was singing, too. All the old favorites (Jolene! Coat of Many Colors! Here You Come Again! I Will Always Love You!), and a gospel-y show closer called, "Jesus and Gravity." For criminy's sake, if the woman can get me on my feet and dancing to a song about intelligent design, you know she's a musical genius.