Dolly Parton @ Northrop
Posted on May 8th, 2008 – 1:37 AMBy Jon Bream
She lip-synched on several songs and played air harmonica, piano, dulcimer, autoharp and guitar. But her personality was unstoppable, sparkling brighter than all the rhinestones on her dresses, piano, guitar, autoharp and dulcimer combined.
Here is Dolly’s set list from Northrop on Wed:
1. Two Doors Down (1978) 2. Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That (1989) 3. Jolene (1973) 4. Thank God I’m a Country Girl (John Denver, 1975) 5. Backwoods Barbie (2008) 6. Eagle When She Flies (1991) 7. Shattered Image (1976) 8. Coat of Many Colors (1971) 9. Only Dreamin’ (2008) 10. Gospel medley: Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show/I’ll Fly Away/When the Saints Go Marching In/Old Time Religion/Calm on the Water/Daddy Was an Old Time Preacher Man
intermission
11. Baby I’m Burnin’ (1979) 12. Better Get to Livin (2008) 13. White Limozeen (1990) 14. The Lonesomes (2008) 15. Puppy Love (her first composition, 1959) 16. Oldies medley by her band:Great Balls of Fire/Bye Bye Love/Johnny B. Goode/I’m Sorry/WipeOut/I Wanna Hold Your Hand/Respect 17. Jesus & Gravity (2008) 18. Here You Come Again(1977) 19. Islands in the Stream (1983) 20. 9 to 5 (1980) ENCORE 21. I Will Always Love You (1974)
What did you think of the show? Please post your comments here:
4 Responses to "Dolly Parton @ Northrop"
[…] Minneapolis Metblogs wrote an interesting post today on Dolly Parton @ NorthropHere’s a quick excerptLike That (1989) 3. Jolene (1973) 4. Thank God I’m a Country Girl (John Denver, 1975) 5. Backwoods Barbie (2008) 6. Eagle When She Flies… […]
For 14 years I have wanted to see Dolly in concert. For 14 years, two trips to Dollywood, the Dixie Stampede, countless albums, autobiography, photos, etc in my collection I had one of a few dreams and it was to see Dolly Parton in concert. That dream was fulfilled last night as a birthday present from my partner Greg.
After reading her autobiography 14 years ago I realized I am more similar to her than dissimilar. Instantly I realized, just like Dolly I could become something better than I was. I wanted and still do, parallel life to Dolly, so granted I am a fan.
I am sure Jon Bream is a very nice guy, who has been around the music block a time or two, maybe even three, but what kind of a music background does he really have? He is obviously a good writer, but frankly doesn’t know singing and entertaining nor Dolly very well. Though I agree with him on notes about her sincerity and self-deprecation or is it self- openness? I don’t agree with him on the lip-syncing.
The 13th row is not a bad view of Dolly and I am a tall guy with eyes like a hawk. I’m more observant than anyone I know and I scrutinize celebrities, even Dolly herself. I heard nothing but pure and live tone coming out of those vocal cords last night. If you know her music as well as I do; you will know the recording you get on a record, CD or iTunes was completely different. She was adding notes, and new arrangements to her old songs. Be smart about it, listen carefully.
Dolly provides a different experience every time she is on stage and I am not talking about the “talk show” bit. I mean every movement, every time notes fly out of her mouth; it has just a little bit of a personal touch to it, just for the audience she is singing to. If you adore Dolly as much as I do, take a moment, listen to “9 to 5’, “Jolene” and “I will Always Love You” and you will find the differences between last night’s performance and what you hear on your stereo at home.
All I can say Jon, is keep up the good work, but maybe a new set of glasses wouldn’t hurt.
I was in the ochrestra pit for last night’s concert, and I have been to a few Dolly concerts where she did lip-sync, but last night was 95% her - I wasn’t 10′ away and her I am here to tell you if she was lip-syncing I would have definitly noticed. I would have no problem saying she was IF she was, but last night belonged to Dolly and her pristine mountain voice. She is a true American treasure, and one hell of an entertainer!
This morning I opened my email to find a note from Jon. Apparently he had an interview with Dolly and asked her about lip-synching in her performances. I stand corrected. Per the write-up interview, she admitted that some songs are technologically enhanced and lip-synching does happen on a few songs. She informed Jon that nearly all performers do it now days with the technology they have available. It is more about entertaining and letting the fans have the most out of what they pay for.
I suppose at age 28 I am an old fashion, old soul with expectations of a 100% live performance. It’s hard for me to think even the invincible Dolly Parton would go to the extremes of lip-synching and utilizing technology to enhance a performance. When I put it all in perspective about that night, I realized how demanding a performance can be. I also suppose, this is where the pop-culture world is these days. When we see an icon like Dolly, Cher, Madonna, etc; we want and expect the best performance we have ever seen out of them. We even want the performance to exceed our expectations but soon forget they are only human and only capable of so much.
Regardless if Dolly was lip-synching on Wednesday’s performance or not and I suppose we may never know. At 62 years old that Smokey Mountain beauty can sure give us a fantastically entertaining performance just like the up-and-coming performers. In the end, that is all that counts; I was able to see Dolly and was entertained. Now I just need to sit down and have a cup of coffee with her.
