Hello Dolly!

This past weekend, my friend Karin and I went to see Dolly Parton in concert. It was fabulous! I have been wanting to see her perform live for a long time. This past April, when Matt and I were in New York, we were walking by Radio City Music Hall and saw that she was going to perform there the night after we were leaving. I was so bummed. I vowed that the next time she came anywhere near Orlando that I would go and see her. A few months later, I found out that she was coming to the UCF Arena which is only a few miles from our house. Perfect! Of course, Matt was leaving to go out of town that morning, so he couldn't go with me. Luckily, my friend Karin was happy to go with me as she is as much a Dolly fan as I am. Karin made this cute sign to bring with us, but, unfortunately they did not let us bring it inside. They also didn't let us inside with our cameras either. Rats! I was hoping to get some good shots of Dolly in action.

There was no opening act, just Dolly all by herself with her band which was fine with me. She sang many of her most famous songs including 9 to 5, Islands in the Stream, Jolene, I Will Always Love You, Coat of Many Colors and on and on. She also did a few of her bluegrass songs that she has been singing more of recently which I just love. She sang an A Capella version of Little Sparrow that was amazing. Her voice is crystal clear and absolutely beautiful. She tells lots of anecdotes from her life in between songs especially about growing up in the Great Smokey Mountains. Dolly is such a wonderful storyteller and these stories really give you a lot of insight into her music. She also played several instruments throughout the concert including a fiddle, banjo, dulcimer and harmonica. In my opinion, she is one of the most talented singer/songwriters of our time and I was so thrilled to be able to see her perform in person.