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On this day, 4 July 2008, American Country music legend Dolly Parton played Cardiff’s International Arena on her Backwoods Barbie Tour.
Visiting the United States, Northern Europe and Canada, the tour supported her 40th studio album, Backwoods Barbie.
The tour was well received by critics and spectators alike, the European leg of the tour was the most successful outing of Parton's touring history, performing for 170,000 spectators in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.
To introduce the tour, Parton remarked:
"I had this product that I wanted to sell. It was my performing. I try to think of it as the music business, and you can't just throw it out to anyone and then move on to a new product. So I got involved. God created me, but he gave me the go-ahead to do what I could with it."
Madeleine Brindley (Western Mail) believes Parton's concert at the Cardiff International Arena proved her to be the first lady of country and western the world over.
Brindley explains, As last night amply demonstrated Dolly has lost none of her songwriting, or story-telling talents, as almost every number was prefaced by a short story, which gave us the tiniest of glimpses into the thought process which drives this diminutive star.
Setlist
Two Doors Down
Jolene
Backwoods Barbie
Coat of Many Colors
Only Dreamin'
Better Get to Livin'
Shinola
Little Sparrow
The Grass Is Blue
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
Here You Come Again
(Barry Mann cover)
Islands in the Stream
(Bee Gees cover)
9 to 5
Encore:
I Will Always Love You
Jesus and Gravity
