Jolene Under the Shell, Miley Plays Her First Full Concert in Four Years at the Hollywood Bowl

Miley played her first full headline concert in four years at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, October 16, and returned for a second sold-out night on Sunday, October 18, both built around her album Bass Persuades.

On Friday the lights came up on a black-and-white video of the singer speaking to the crowd, the first of several filmed interludes, before she opened with “Orbit.” The Hollywood Reporter called the night emotional and cathartic, and reported that 1.5 million people joined the ticket queue for roughly 36,000 tickets across the two dates. She now performs under her first name alone, and Billboard counts three albums released since her last full set, a show in Mexico four years ago.

What She Played

Variety published the 18-song setlist from night one, and The Hollywood Reporter found Sunday’s set nearly identical.

- Orbit - Different Religion, with Model/Actriz - Bass Persuades and its remix - Handstand - Something Beautiful - Jolene, the Dolly Parton song - Walk of Fame - Redlights - Do You Realize??, with Wayne Coyne - Karen Don’t Be Sad, with Wayne Coyne - We Can’t Stop - Wrecking Ball - Snow - Used to Be Young - The Climb - Party in the U.S.A. - Let’s Get Married - Flowers

Billboard’s recap described a B-stage in the middle of the crowd, where Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips started “Do You Realize??” before she joined him for the last chorus. Coyne came back at the end of “Party in the U.S.A.” holding a silver balloon sign as confetti and streamers filled the stage. For “Flowers,” she changed the line to “Started to cry but then remembered… I sold out the Hollywood Bowl!”

A Song for Aunt Dolly

The night’s still point came early in the set. A photo of a young Dolly Parton, her late godmother, filled the screens, and she sat on the edge of the stage to tell a story about the Bowl itself.

“I only got to see Dolly Parton live in concert one time in my entire life and it was here,” she told the crowd, Deadline reported. Parton, knowing she was in the audience that night, opened her own show with the Hannah Montana theme.

“Me and Dolly are eternal,” she said, according to Billboard, before singing “Jolene.” She followed it with “Walk of Fame” while an image of Parton’s Hollywood star played on the screens, and later sang “Wrecking Ball” holding a heart-shaped frame with Parton’s photo. “That was Dolly’s favorite song of mine, so I had to bring her with me,” she said.

Her Answer on Sunday

The second night came with a reply. After Friday, some online commentary said she let the crowd and backing track carry parts of older hits such as “Party in the U.S.A.” and “Flowers,” Variety reported. The Hollywood Reporter had noted the same pattern in its Friday review, along with her full-voiced singing on the Bass Persuades songs.

On Sunday she addressed it from the stage. “This is not an experiment of you. This is an experience for me. And you all make the experience possible,” she said, according to Variety.

“Before I came out for ‘Orbit,’ I already told myself I wasn’t going to come on stage, I was going to run away,” she added. “But never would I leave you all sitting in these seats, unfulfilled from a show. So I can take a lot, but one thing I will not stand is any question about where my heart is when I’m on the stage. I am fully present.”

The Hollywood Reporter observed that she appeared to sing more of those older songs on night two. She also told the crowd she had not been doing “cartwheels” because she had to sing live.

What Comes Next at the Bowl

The two nights closed a run that Velvet previewed when the dates were announced. The Bowl stays busy into the fall, with Aerosmith’s two nights set for Thursday, October 29 and Sunday, November 1.