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.

Hello, I'm Dolly Tour
Tour by Dolly Parton
Start dateOctober 14, 2004
End dateDecember 19, 2004
Legs1
No. of shows39 in North America
Dolly Parton concert chronology

History

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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

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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 hippie 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

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Set list

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The following set list is representative of the October 14, 2004 show in Greenville, South Carolina . It is not representative of all concerts for the duration of the tour.

  1. "Hello, I'm Dolly"
  2. "Two Doors Down"
  3. "9 to 5"
  4. "Jolene" / "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" / "Here You Come Again"
  5. "The Grass Is Blue"
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
  7. "I Dreamed About Elvis"
  8. "Viva Las Vegas"
  9. "PMS Blues"
  10. "Blue Smoke"
  11. "Go to Hell"
  12. "Me and Bobby McGee"
  13. "Imagine"
  14. "Islands in the Stream"
  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"
  20. "I Will Always Love You"
Encore
  1. "Hello God"

Notes

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Tour dates

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Date City Country Venue
North America[2]
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[a] Austin The Theatre at the Frank Erwin Center
December 3, 2004 Dallas American Airlines Center
December 5, 2004 Houston Toyota Center
December 7, 2004 Las Vegas The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
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
December 11, 2004 Reno Hilton Theater
December 12, 2004 Sacramento ARCO Arena
December 16, 2004 Nampa Idaho Center
December 17, 2004 Portland Theater of the Clouds
December 18, 2004 Spokane The Star Theatre at the Spokane Arena
December 19, 2004[b] Everett Everett Events Center

Box score office data

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Venue City Tickets sold / available Gross revenue
American Airlines Center Dallas 6,409 / 6,409 $261,225
Toyota Center Houston 4,879 / 4,879 $228,737
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Las Vegas 3,979 / 3,979 $284,695
HP Pavilion at San Jose San Jose 6,409 / 6,409 $261,225
ARCO Arena Sacramento 5,736 / 5,736 $259,724
Idaho Center Nampa 5,762 / 5,762 $258,853
Theater of the Clouds Portland 5,117 / 5,117 $196,068
The Star Theatre at the Spokane Arena Spokane 5,608 / 5,608 $210,188
Everett Events Center Everett 4,908 / 4,908 $257,719
Total 48,807 / 48,807 (100%) $2,218,434

Crew

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  • Monitor Engineer: Bryan Vasquez[3]
  • System Tech: Bryan W. Baxley
  • FOH Engineer: Matt Naylor
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Notes

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  1. ^ Originally scheduled to take place at Theater at the SBC Center, San Antonio.
  2. ^ Originally scheduled to take place at Key Arena, Seattle on December 19.

References

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  1. ^ "People: Dolly brings along unknowns on tour". The St. Augustine Record. Morris Communications. October 16, 2004. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  2. ^ Cohen, Jonathan; Jeckell, Barry A. (September 8, 2004). "'Hello Dolly': Parton Plans Career-Spanning Tour". Billboard. VNU eMedia Inc. Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  3. ^ Jennings, Steve (February 1, 2005). "All Access: Dolly Parton". Mix Magazine Online. NewBay Media, LLC. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.