London Calling

What a final

too bad we missed it. So apparently the 2008 men's Wimbledon final is considered one of the best tennis matches ever played (it seems like we have one of those every few years). We watched the first two sets and anticipated as did the rest of the tennis watching world that Nadal was going to finally unseat Rog in impressive fashion. I guess it was impressive in that he endured a 5 set marathon but it wasn't for Kirsten and I to watch, we had bigger and better things to do. We had a date with Dolly Parton.

We were lucky enough to have found a couple of tickets to the final Dolly Parton show at the O2 on the final night of her 4 week European tour and we were there for her.

Before the show we popped down to Greenwich to check it out and grab some dinner at one of the out of the way pubs that surround the area. We took pictures at the Prime Meridian being all east and west at the same time. If it hadn't been for the steady downpour it would have been pretty sweet. We'll be back Greenwich, oh yes, we'll be back.

Let me say it loud and clear, Dolly rocks! She's 60 something years old, her face has more plastic than Mr. Potato Head, her sequin outfits are blinding but the woman still has a set (ahem) of pipes. She sang a mix of her classics (Jolene, 9 to 5, Thank God I'm a Country Girl, I Will Always Love You) with some of her newer material but what made the concert so special was her conversations with the crowd between songs. So in addition to belting out the tunes she kept everyone laughing with her personal anecdotes about where she was from and the origin of the songs. Interesting little factoid: Jolene was based on the town tramp from her little town in Tennessee and Dolly wanted to grow up to be just like her.

Other highlights were her throw back gospel tunes and a cappella songs with members of the band, sounded like something straight out of "O Brother Where Art Thou".

The only damper on the day was that the Jubilee line was closed for maintenance works. If you aren't from London or haven't been to a show at the O2 recently let me tell you a little something about getting to the O2, there is only one public transportation stop, and it's on the Jubilee line. Of course there are buses and Thames boats, but they take a dog's age to get back to central London and after a show you get the distinct pleasure of having your personal space violated by about 20 people, simultaneously. However, despite the transportation woe nothing could dim the glow of a wonderful performance from Dolly.

posted by Brian and Kirsten Hennigan @ Tuesday, July 08, 2008