“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!” -- Dolly
The Basics
39 concerts
36 cities
October through December 2004
22 U.S. states and one Canadian province.
Dolly’s first tour in two years, first major tour in a decade, largest tour in two decades.
The Press Release
Click here for the press release announcing the tour issued on Sept. 8.
The Band
The Grascals serve as Dolly's opening act and constitute the basis of her backing band. They are Jamie Johnson, Danny Roberts, David Talbot, Jimmy Mattingly, Terry Smith and Terry Eldridge. Rounding out the musicians are longtime band member Richard Dennison on keyboards, Andy Hall on dobro, Kent Wells on guitar and Chuck Tilley on drums.
Photos
See the exclusive Dollymania photo galleries from the shows by looking for the word “Photos” at each concert’s entry below. Alternately, all of them are accessible from a master list here.
Pre-Sale Tickets
Tickets for most shows on the tour will be available a week or so in advance of their sale to the general public in exclusive pre-sales by clicking on the image below:
Meet Dolly
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides financial assistance for living and medical expenses to former musicians in need, is auctioning tickets for fans to attend the few, exclusive meet-and-greets with Dolly on the tour. All proceeds benefit the charity. See the auctions here.
If the venue name below is underlined, please click on it for the venue's page dedicated to the concert. If the sale date is underlined, please click on it for more information on ticket purchase.
All shows are 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 10 members of Dolly's backing band for her concerts) will be new bluegrass band The Grascals.
The concerts included costume changes on stage, by Dolly using "add-ons" such as skirts to put over her pants; she played piano on stage for the first time; for one number she climbed up on the piano with a martini glass and cigarette as a lounge torch singer; Kenny Rogers pre-recorded dialogue and vocals for a segment on their duets, during which Dolly operated a Kenny ventriloquist's dummy (although only on the first few dates of the tour); new covers included in the show were "Imagine" and "Me And Bobby McGee" (both from her upcoming Blue Smoke CD).
The tour, "Hello I'm Dolly," is named after Dolly's first full-length album, released in 1967 on Monument Records in Nashville.
Interestingly, the tour was not "officially" announced until weeks after tickets went on sale for a handful of the performances, after Dollymania had reported a full schedule of suspected concert dates and venues and after the site was the only media outlet to independently confirm several stops of those dates as actual stops on the tour.
Fans were offered special pre-sales for many dates before tickets went on sale to the general public.
Energized by her sold-out club tour in 2002, Dolly had planned a large-scale tour for mid-to-late 2003 but pushed those expectations back until spring 2004 to promote her patriotic CD and the all-star tribute album in her honor. In January 2004, she announced in a letter released to fans via Dollymania that she had cancelled those plans and doubted she would tour this year. By late summer, however, she had changed her mind and began having locations for possible concerts negotiated.
