REVIEW: Dolly’s sparkling showcase

Looking around the audience, it was like a who’s who of music, industry, politics and entertainment in the Tamworth region as they and others from as far away as Tasmania packed the TRECC.DOLLY Parton has left Tamworth in no doubt about why she’s the queen of country.

Tamworth has left Dolly in no doubt as to why we are the Country Music Capital.

The city is starting to get used to welcoming massive country stars, but they don’t come much bigger or better than Dolly.

From the big hair to her big voice, masses of rhinestones and tiny frame, the country powerhouse played one instrument to the next throughout the show, with some “played” just to add to the entertainment value, while  Dolly showed her prowess on others, including the autoharp – an instrument rarely seen in Australian music circles.

Looking around the audience, it was like a who’s who of music, industry, politics and entertainment in the Tamworth region as they and others from as far away as Tasmania packed the TRECC.

The audience rode the waves of emotion, from party favourites and sad songs, to songs of growing up in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and segments that were more in tune with a Christian revival meeting than a country show, but the audience embraced every facet.

The show was like a walk through musical and personal history with Dolly, as she shared stories of growing up in a family of 12 children with parents who were married at 15 and 17 years old.

Dolly’s also an entertainer not afraid to be self-deprecating, spinning her favourite one-liners about how much it cost to look that cheap, how people asked if they were real with her response being, “of course not, no one has nails this long” and how if she fell over on stage, it would take an hour for her to get back up.

The only disappointing issue of the night was that Dolly would’ve been a shiny speck on stage for those with seats up the back of the auditorium, with no screens side of stage. This has been an issue before and I don’t know if the decision was Dolly’s or council’s, but it’s something that needs to be considered if you want people to continue to support these high profile concerts in our city.

Dolly has left Tamworth in awe of what a wonderful entertainer she is and a thirst for more entertainers of her calibre to make Tamworth a stop on their tours.

We have Kris Kristofferson to look forward to next, with his show at TRECC on April 15 promising to be just as impressive, if not as sparkly.