I Will Always Love You . . . . Dolly

Oh my God. What can I say about Dolly Parton in concert??? It was without a doubt one of the most fun concerts I have ever been to. Dolly has this infectious personality and it is impossible to not smile throughout her entire show. She sounded phenomenal and looked even better. If you have never seen her in concert, I strongly recommend it.

I didn't even know that I was going to the concert until Tuesday morning when I got to work. I had an email from my friend Darrin letting me know that he had gotten tickets after all. I was all fired up for the rest of the day. I had already accepted the fact that I wouldn't get to see her, so this was a welcome surprise.

After work Tuesday, I got my hair did and then headed over to meet up with Darrin and Company. Somehow we kept missing each other and I ended up walking to Constitution Hall from Judiciary Square (long story). I got to the concert hall right on time and met up with everyone. We went in and took our seats and waited for the opening act to start. They were OK, but definitely not what I paid $65 to see.

Finally the curtain dropped and there she was in all her big hair, big boob, bedazzled dress glory! She immediately launched into one of the covers off of her forth-coming album of songs from the 60s and 70s. She then stopped and talked to crowd for a bit and told us that she would play some of her old standards and some of the covers from her new album.

Next thing I know, she is rubbing her nails together for the start of 9 to 5. I was so giddy! Love that song, and that movie. The rest of the show was like this. Even though I didn't know every single song, I knew a lot more of them than I thought I would.

The best part of the show though was her interactions with the crowd. In between each and every song she would stop and tell a story about how that song was written, or why she decided to cover that song, or some other little story. It made it seem like you were just sitting around a camp fire or something with her leading a sing-along.

I know right now that some of my friends are rolling their eyes, thinking to themselves that there is no way they would go see a 60 year old country/blue grass singer. Well, to them I have to say, that is damn shame. You have no idea what a great time you are missing out on. The next time Dolly is in town, I know that I will be there singing and clapping along with half of gay DC.