By popular demand, I will recount my awesome experience at the Dolly Parton show at Radio City Music Hall.  I went with my friend Jared who had recently gotten back from tour.  In Nashville, Jared graciously picked up some George Jones’ “Good on Everything Sauce.”  On the way to the show Jared picked up some yellow printing ink as well.

Why do you care about these facts?  Because Radio City does not like liquids in bottles.  The security man and I had a little discussion and he was going to take my George Jones sauce until I said, “OH man!  It’s for BBQ!”  The man totally respected this.  He was completely confused by the printing ink, and allowed it as well.

Our seats were technically “obscured view” which apparently means “awesome, balcony center behind the sound board.”  There was no opener.  Dolly was AMAZING.  She played seven instruments.  At one point, I turned to Jared and said, “What’s next, a harp?” only to have Dolly PULL OUT AN AUTOHARP.

Unlike most big stars she played all her big hits, and three songs off the new album (Backwoods Barbie, Better Get to Livin, and Jesus and Gravity).  I most wanted to hear “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That” which was the second song she played.  Her voice was amazingly on point the whole night.  Her chattiness between songs was hilarious.  She thanked everyone for spending their hard earned dough on her.

She played “Jolene” and then mentioned that there were a lot of men dressed as Dolly in the audience.  She said she should have sung it as “Drag Queen.”  The audience was probably the most vociferous and excited I have ever seen, and Dolly seemed to agree.  She had a great band too, but sadly the only duet she did was “Islands in the Stream.”  She did “Brother Love’s Travelin’ Salvation Show” too, which I had never heard performed by anyone other than Neil Diamond.

Dolly did comment on how there’s not a whole lot of country music in nyc anymore which struck a chord in me.  From the reading/documentary watching I have been doing, it seems like there was a time when you had to make it in NYC to be a big country/folk singer, and that there was a huge country scene here.  There seems to be a country resurgence here at the moment, but I wonder why there was this big anti-NYC movement in the 70s/80s espoused by Buck Owens (I Wouldn’t Live in NYC (If They Gave Me the Whole Dang Town)) and Hank Jr. (Country Boy Can Survive and If Heaven Ain’t a Lot Like Dixie).  What changed?  Maybe it was Nashville sound or something, but I have to say I know a lot more rabid country music fans here than anywhere else I have lived.

Basically if you get the chance to see her, go do it.  And tell me if the audience is 100% gay men and their moms like it is here.