On October 3rd, I was lucky enough to be one of the 30,000 people gathered at Liberty Memorial Park in Kansas City, for Chappell Roan’s homecoming show. This was her first time back in her home state of Missouri since her meteoric rise last year. Last time she played Kansas City was April 8th, 2024, at the 2,500-3,000 max capacity Midland Theater. Yeah, she’s come a long way since then.
Her arrival was treated as a hero’s return. The city celebrated her in all kinds of manners. The buildings were lit up pink at night instead of their usual Chiefs red, the streetcar being rebranded as the Pink Pony Club Express (driver even sporting a pink cowboy hat, of course), a mural celebrating the Midwest Princess done by local artist Jared Horman, and a crazy amount of coverage from the local press.
By the way, that mural is on Broadway on the Valentine Apartment building, right past Hamburger Mary’s. This location holds a special place in Chappell Roan’s history, because Hamburger Mary’s is the first place she ever experienced a drag show.
Chappell always has a theme for her shows for the crowd, and the theme for the Kansas City shows was Pink Pony Club. So the whole crowd was a sea of pink. Unfortunately, I was not aware of this theme, nor do I own anything pink, so I stuck out like a sore thumb in my white Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me shirt. Figured since she name drops Mulholland Drive in “Naked In Manhattan” it was at least Chappell adjacent. I did get compliments on the shirt for what it’s worth.
But anyways, the show starts, and she opens every show with a drag show by local drag performers. Of course, this one had a little bit more sentimentality to it since they were performers from Hamburger Mary’s and performed at Chappell’s last Kansas City show before she blew up. They even talked about how proud they were of Chappell. It was a nice full circle moment. The performers were Minti Varieties, Karmella Uchawi, and KiYanna Uchawi.
Then Japanese Breakfast came on. I was really kind of shocked to see them on the bill. They just released a new album in March, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), and are on their own tour supporting it. But I guess the dates lined up, and I’m glad they did. They were great. And their violinist is especially amazing. Seriously, kudos to Lauren Baba.
Then, it was the moment everybody was waiting for. Purple and green lights bathed the stage as a bombastic symphonic score played, and after her band had walked onto the stage, there she was… The person who had gathered these 30,000 people here. Your favorite artist’s favorite artist, Chappell Roan. She stood on this medieval castle scene set, wearing a very fairytale looking ball gown, perfect for a Midwest Princess.
She opened with a one two punch of “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” and “Femininomenon” to set the tone for the night, and then she settled into the set, playing through entirety of her debut album, her post album singles (“Good Luck, Babe!,” “The Giver,” and “The Subway”), and her now iconic cover of Heart’s “Barracuda.” It’s hard to pick out highlights, because honestly every song she performed is a crowd pleaser, and is a standout moment in its own right. But for me the highlights were actually her slower, more gentle songs. “Picture You,” “Kaleidoscope,” “Coffee,” and “California” were my favorite songs of the night. It really kind of surprised me because she has so many high energy singalong songs that I thought would just kill live, and don’t get me wrong, they did. But those tender ballads really stole the show for me.
Chappell Roan is one hell of a performer. She does it all. The singing, the energy, the visual flair, humor, vulnerability, anger, joy, and sadness, all wrapped into one. She is a generational talent, no doubt about it. And I think seeing her live would melt the heart of even the coldest cynic. Also, her band was super impressive. They weren’t just solid, they actually elevated the songs. Just all around great musicians on a stage giving an amazing performance.
She closed the show with the titular track of the night’s theme, the bittersweet ode to individuality, “Pink Pony Club.” First and foremost a queer anthem, but also a song that I just think is so relatable if you grew up in the Midwest. It can be real oppressive growing up here, and that longing and desire to find a place in this world that will let you be your full self is universal.
Then, with the band still playing the outro, she waved goodbye to the crowd and left the stage. All 30,000 people in attendance had to leave the Pink Pony Club and return to the uncertain, anxiety inducing world outside. This temporary respite from it all, this feeling of escapism, is by design. As Chappell said before “Kaleidoscope” earlier in the night, “I think there’s a lot of ways you can do this job, and it’s never been more clear that, now this year that actually the only thing I care about is bringing queer people joy all over the world, and also to just give a space, even if you’re not queer, to dress however you want to and to have a sense of freedom and know that if you are at my show, you are safe here and you’re welcome. You are cherished. I’m so grateful for you.” She definitely achieved that.
Chappell Roan is a bright light in this increasingly dark, nightmarish world.
