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Last week, I reviewed the TV series Mademoiselle Holmes, which also worked as a Paris in July post. Tina enjoyed Saoirse by Charleen Hurtbuise, set in Ireland (plus Florida and Michigan).

At the beginning of July, I started listening to the 2019 podcast, Dolly Parton’s America. I’ve been on quite a journey with Dolly since then–listening to music, watching movies, and fantasizing about a trip to Dollywood. Most of that exploration, naturally, was in the United States.

Of course, Dolly Parton has performed more than once in London. In 2008, she played the O2 arena in London and the next year, released a live album of the performance. I have access to that album through my library’s Hoopla streaming service.

The first bit that charmed me was that the band played a couple of lines of “Hello, Dolly” just as Dolly appeared on stage. Fun! That transitioned right into an upbeat version of “Two Doors Down,” the perfect song to get the party started.

I don’t always appreciate live albums because I find that the audience noise can be annoying. On this recording, however, the sound editing is done so well that the audience is only audible when they enhanced the performance rather than distracting from it. Dolly led her fans in an acapella sing-along for the chorus of “Nine to Five,” which is particularly thrilling.

The fun of a live album is sensing the energy of the performance. We get that energy over-and-over again from Dolly. I love when she is clearly interacting with the other musicians on the stage, especially the singers. I may have to try more live albums because I liked imagining myself as part of a crowd in London watching Dolly Parton put on a show.