Backwoods Barbie Tour

Critical reception[edit]

Overall, the majority of feedback from music critics was favorable for the tour. Ben Ratliff (The New York Times) describes Parton's performance at the Radio City Music Hall as “nothing short of uplifting”. He further comments that, “Between the songs and her nonstop patter — she is an assassin of dead air — the show was a seminar on the peril of accepting received wisdom, whether the subject was drag queens, the rural poor, working stiffs, politicians, Pentecostalists, young media stars or bosomy women. She granted pretty much everybody a complex interior life, and the power of independent thought.”^[11] For the same concert, Mandi Bierly (Entertainment Weekly) felt the highlight of the show was Parton's “banter”. She elaborated, “"I never leave a rhinestone unturned", she said, heading to her studded white piano. And, as the headline states, she's got the best stage banter in the business. She's sufficiently quippy, but also shares her life story. After the jump, some of her greatest hits.”^[12]


During the European leg, the reviews commended Parton's stage personality and interaction with the audience. Edwin McFee (The Belfast Telegraph) thought Parton's concert at the Odyssey Arena proved her star power. He penned, “She sings, she dances, she plays no less than six musical instruments and she also tells us stories of her childhood as if we were the first ones to hear them, though Dolly fanatics have probably heard them a million times before. At times it was actually quite surreal listening to evergreen anthems such as ‘Jolene’ performed with as much passion as if they were recorded only yesterday, and in many ways her show was a masterclass in traditional old school musical theatre.”^[13] David Sinclair (The Times) found the concert at the Glasgow SECC to be "all about the music". He wrote, “…But, in the end, it all came back to the songs. Here she insisted was where the essence of her personality could always be found. I might look artificial/ But where it counts I'm real, she sang in the title track of Backwoods Barbie. And in a funny way, she is.”^[14]


Madeleine Brindley (Western Mail) believed Parton's concert at the Cardiff International Arena, Wales proved her to be the First Lady of Country and Western the world over. Brindley explained, “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.”^[15] David Smyth (Evening Standard) gave the concert at The O₂ Arena four out of five stars. Smyth stated, “Tracks representing the jolly country pop of her latest album, the knowingly-titled Backwoods Barbie, fitted in well, especially the man-baiting 'Shinola'. It was only when she stopped the gabbing and rolled out hits in quick succession that the crowd rose to its feet and remained there. 'Here You Come Again', 'Islands In The Stream', '9 to 5' and the biggest of the big ballads, 'I Will Always Love You', confirmed that while she weaves a good yarn, it's when Dolly Parton sings that she's really on-song.”^[16]


Returning to the United States, the praise for the tour continued. Annie Zaleski (Riverfront Times) wrote that the performance at the Fabulous Fox Theatre was “charming, meeting all expectations.” She continued, “Also fantastic was the ease with which she transitioned from such seemingly different instruments—all of which were white and covered in rhinestones. For "Thank God I’m a Country Girl", she flew through fiddle, banjo, and harmonica, all feverishly supplied by her "useful and ornamental" hick Chippendale (Steve Summers) who dosey-doed in shirtless abandon in overalls nearby.”^[17] Evan Rytlewski (Shepherd Express) wrote of Parton's stage persona, during her concert at Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater, "Parton's hokey facade is a remnant of the old Las Vegas/Grand Ole Opry era of entertainment, and it still dominates her concerts. She spent nearly as much of her performance Monday night sharing stories and cracking jokes as she did singing, proving herself quite the comedian. At 62, she's part-grandmother (she riffed on her poor eyesight and mortality), part-cougar (she ogled a dancing beefcake), and her sharp quips had the audience roaring with laughter."^[18]