The Blue Smoke World Tour is the eleventh concert tour by American recording artist
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
. The tour promotes Parton's 42nd studio album, ''
Blue Smoke''. Beginning in January 2014, the tour played forty-seven shows in North America, Oceania, and Europe. On
Pollstar
''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017.
''Pollstar'' holds an annual award ce ...
's Mid Year Top 100 Worldwide Tours list, released in July 2014 and ranking tours up until that date, the Blue Smoke World Tour ranked at number 23 with $23.3 million in grosses and 210,288 tickets sold for 38 shows.
Background
Parton mentioned working on a new album in July 2013. A month later, news of a tour hit multiple media outlets, as the singer was promoting the expansion of her theme park,
Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park that is jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company, Dolly Parton Productions. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pig ...
. The tour was officially announced on ''
The Queen Latifah Show'' in October 21, 2013. She also performed a new song, "Miss You, Miss Me" along with performing a "rap" that went viral. Parton initially revealed dates only in Australia. Along with the announcement, the singer posted a message to her Australian fans on her official website. It stated:
"Australia, here I come again. We have a lot of new and exciting things for the show and can’t wait to share it with you. I love my fans in that part of the world. You've been so very good to me for so many years and I know that we're gonna have a wonderful time. It's a long way from home in your part of the world, but I always feel like I'm right at home. So Australia, I'm coming home. Wait up!"
The tour will serve as the main promotional vehicle behind her forthcoming album, ''Blue Smoke''.
Shortly after the announcement, additional shows were revealed in Europe, specifically the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia and Germany. With the release of European shows, Parton remarked:
"Every time I come to Europe, I'm just as excited as I was my very first time, which was many, many years ago. I love that part of the rld and I especially love the fans. We always have such a good time and I've put together a lot of things for this show that I think the fans will love. We had not planned to come back so soon, but we got so much fan mail and such a great reaction that I thought, 'Well, why not. If they’re having a good time and we always do, let's just do it'".
The scheduling of the shows also sparked rumors the singer would perform at the
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
. Parton's participation in the festival was confirmed on June 1, 2014. She expressed her excitement, stating she's wanted to perform at the festival for many years. Before she hit the stage, she was honored by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
with a plaque commemorating 100 million albums sold worldwide. The performance was a success, with
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
reporting Parton drew the biggest crowd of the festival. Despite bad weather and mud, she performed at the Pyramid Stage in an all white catsuit. She performed an abbreviated setlist from the current runs; which featured a guest appearance by famed guitarist
Richie Sambora
Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwriting unit for the ...
on "Lay Your Hands On Me".
Despite the high praise, the festival appearance was shadowed by allegations of
lip-synching.
Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
reporter, Kay Burley,
tweeted her in disappointment with Parton for miming a huge event. This created an uproar on the Internet. Dolly responded to the chaos stating she was not miming. She continued to say "My boobs are fake, my hair's fake but what is real is my voice and my heart".
The news came alongside media reports of Parton in a
car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
. Parton described the incident as a fender-bender and that she sustained no injuries. While touring in Australia, the singer will also launch her program
Imagination Library in that region.
In November 2013, show in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
and
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
were revealed. Initially believed to be one-off shows, Parton stated the shows will kick off the 2014 tour. She further stated:
"It's always great to perform at home in the good ol' U.S.A. We’re kicking off our Blue Smoke World Tour right here at home. I love traveling all over the world; but it's true, there's nothing like home".
It was also reported additional shows in the U.S. (and possibly Canada) will take place in May 2014.
Set list
The following songs were performed during the January 28, 2014 concert at the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. It does not represent all concerts during the tour.
#"
Baby I'm Burnin'" / "
Girl On Fire
#"
Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That"
#"
Jolene"
#"Blue Smoke"
#"
Don't Think Twice"
#"
My Tennessee Mountain Home
''My Tennessee Mountain Home'' is the eleventh solo studio album by American entertainer Dolly Parton. It was released on April 2, 1973, by RCA Victor. The house pictured on the album cover was the house in which the Parton family lived during ...
"
#"
(Give Me That) Old-Time Religion" / "I'll Fly Away" / "I’m on My Way to Canaan's Land"
#"
Coat of Many Colors
In the Hebrew Bible, the coat of many colors or () is the name for the garment that the Bible, Biblical Joseph (Genesis), Joseph owned; it was given to him by his father Jacob in Vayeshev (Book of Genesis, Genesis 37).
Biblical narrative
Jose ...
"
#"Smoky Mountain Memories"
#"
Rocky Top"
#"
Together You and I"
#"
Lay Your Hands on Me"
#"
Two Doors Down"
#"
Better Get to Livin'"
#"Lover du Jour"
#"
Banks of the Ohio"
#"Little Sparrow"
#"
Travelin' Prayer"
#"
Shine"
#"
It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" / "
The Bargain Store"
#"
Love Is Like a Butterfly"
#"
Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You"
#"
But You Know I Love You"
#"
Real Love" / "
Think About Love"
#"
Here You Come Again"
#"
Islands in the Stream"
#"
9 to 5
Working time or laboring time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week.
Many countri ...
"
Encore
#
" I Will Always Love You"
Tour dates
Box office score data
Notes
References
External links
Parton's Official Website
{{Dolly Parton
2014 concert tours
Dolly Parton concert tours