When Chappell Roan took a moment late in her thrilling performance in Pasadena on Friday, it was to look deep into the sprawling crowd on the grass at Brookside at the Rose Bowl and consider how she and they have come.
“The last show I played in L.A. was at the Wiltern,” she said of her show at the Los Angeles theater in November 2023. “I think that’s 2,500 people, so it’s really crazy that we’re here and there’s like 40,000 people here tonight.”
Crazy’s a good word for it. The Wiltern show, and “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” debut album that tour promoted, surely contributed to Roan landing a mid-tier spot on the 2024 Coachella lineup.
Her Coachella performances pulled overflow crowds to the Gobi Tent, launching a run of summer festival dates that grew exponentially with each one. Earlier this year, Roan grabbed Grammy nominations in the four most prestigious categories, winning best new artist.
So when she announced the Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things pop-up tour – just two nights in Pasadena this weekend after a pair of Kansas City shows in her home state of Missouri and four shows in New York City – anticipation for her first U.S. dates this year exploded.
And even with all that buildup and expectation, Roan delivered, scattering 18 songs over 90 minutes in a show that delivered theatrical moments both campy and serious. The night also celebrated differences and diversity – Roan is queer and her audience encompasses a rainbow of ethnicity, gender and sexuality – as well as the joy that comes with living one’s true life to the fullest.
After a DJ set by Trixie Mattel and an opening set by the electro-indie pop singer-songwriter Hemlocke Springs, Roan arrived on stage to a foreboding orchestral instrumental that suggested dangers more than damsels.
As her band played the first notes of “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” Roan emerged on a gothic castle stage set in front of animated visuals that suggested a long-forgotten Disney fairy tale right down to the old leatherbound book embossed with the initials C.R. that slowly opened to start this story.
By the end of that number, she’d walked across a bridge from the castle tower and descended a sweeping staircase, an ornate headpiece atop her long auburn tresses, a scepter in one hand, a microphone in the other, everything sparkling with crystal-like jewels.
The crowd, as you might guess, was over the moon. Many had arrived as early as 4:30 p.m. to check out the Pink Pony Club, an activation named after her signature song. There, they posed for pictures with installations including the giant pink pony Roan had ridden onto the stage for her performance of the song, or waited in line for free Roan-inspired Crocs charms – miniature pink hairbows and silvery oysters with faux pearls.
“Femininomenon,” which followed, set the pattern for the rest of the night: Roan sang, accompanied by her terrific five-piece band, and the fans either watched in quiet rapture or sang along with her on practically every word.
My friend Claudia, texting after the show, accurately identified the reason for this incredibly attentive crowd: Given Roan’s supersonic rise over the last 18 months, most of them had likely never seen her before and were not going to risk a single moment in Roan’s presence.
The dance beats of “Femininomenon” gave way to the more reflective med-tempo vibes of “After Midnight” and “Naked in Manhattan.” The latter also presented the first of several costume changes, as her full-length was deconstructed into a blouse open over a jeweled bikini top and short shorts above knee-high bedazzled boots.
The fan favorite “Casual” and Roan’s latest single “The Subway” both fall into one of her favorite categories of songwriting. They’re wistful, melancholic ballads about the confusion of relationships, whether during them or in their aftermath. [“Casual” also has some of her most sexually frank lyrics – have fun explaining those, parents who brought elementary school kids to the show!]
Roan paused here to tell the crowd that this was the biggest headlining show of her career to date, and then launched into “Hot To Go!,” a joyful dance number that had most of the crowd performing its choreography along with her and the band.
The second half of the show opened with Heart’s “Barracuda,” the sole cover in the set, and a song that’s perfect for Roan’s performance style. Now dressed in a leather-like bikini top and hot pants that would have made Xena the Warrior Princess envious, she cut a powerful, feminine image as she roamed the stage set.
Other highlights of the back half of the set included “The Giver,” Roan’s first foray into a country sound, and “Red Wine Supernova,” another fan favorite that had fans dancing and singing. A few songs later, the sweet ballad “Coffee” segued into another powerhouse vocal on “Good Luck, Babe.”
That powerful image of Chappell Roan, which is a stage name and persona, only lowered once or twice during the night. It did so as she took a break after singing “My Kink is Karma..” Sitting on a throne-like chair with her tour pet Shigella, a gremlin-esque doll, on her lap, she started by announcing that L.A., where she moved nine years ago, is her favorite city in the world.
“I’m originally from Missouri, and I had a really, really tough time the first five years,” she said in a soft, hesitant voice, the powerful performer now the shyer Kayleigh Amstutz, a 27-year-old transplant from the Midwest.
“I lived in Altadena, which is close to here, and seeing what the fires … I’m not going to be eloquent about this –- I loved L.A. more than ever when I saw how the community came together in a big way to help. Same with the Palisades.
“I just realized that I’m so lucky to be able to live here and play here. And my city has taken care of me, and it’s only my duty to take care of it back.”
With that, and a few choice expletives directed at ICE, Chappell was back, singing a pair of songs inspired by her adopted hometown and state. “California,” another ballad, came first, followed by “Pink Pony Club,” her anthemic call to follow your dream, no matter where, no matter what others might think or so.
That’s a message she’s living herself, judging by the success of this show, and those of the last two years have provided.