Chappell Roan Personifies Pop Royalty as The Midwest Princess Tour Arrives in Seattle

Written by Callie Solberg (SHE/HER) Photos by Sophia Kingsley (SHE/HER)

It’s Saturday night at The Showbox in downtown Seattle and the energy in the air is palpable. The crowd shimmers in silver, sequins and face glitter. People sing along to pop hits playing through the speakers, including Katy Perry’s “Friday Night” which gets the whole room swaying under the venue’s velvety ceiling. Everyone is here to see their favorite Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan.

A burgeoning indie-pop artist whose recent acclaim has been long in the making, Roan embodies everything a modern day pop princess should — glamorous DIY costumes, heart-wrenching ballads, classic club hits and copious amounts of glitter. Her Naked in North America Tour in the spring was a hit and her ongoing The Midwest Princess Tour has drawn energetic crowds from New York City to Los Angeles. Her concert at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC in 2022 saw 500 people in the audience, in 2023 at the Brooklyn Steel 1800 fans packed the venue. She’s also set to open for Olivia Rodrigo on the upcoming Guts world tour.

This level of recognition didn’t happen overnight. Originally envisioning herself as an actress, Roan was first discovered on YouTube at age 17, quickly being signed to a major label and thrust into the fast-paced music industry. She traveled between Missouri, NYC and LA, developing her art until she moved to California full time in 2018.

“Pink Pony Club,” the artists first release since 2017 and a current crowd favorite, dropped during the height of the pandemic in 2020. When the song didn’t do as well as expected, Roan’s label dropped her, leading her to move back to Missouri, working at a drive through and questioning if it was all worth it to continue pursuing her music.

Then, a year later in 2021, Vulture labeled “Pink Pony Club” the “Song of Summer 2021”, with USA Today later ranking it third on a top 10 songs of 2020 list. The single began to climb the charts, surpassing 10 million streams by August of 2022. Her subsequent opening acts on Fletcher’s Girl of My Dreams tour and Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Tour boosted her notoriety. Just two days after her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess debuted on September 22nd, Roan hit the road for her headliner tour. The recent trend of concert costume culture has been an integral element of each show, with different songs dictating the prescribed themes — “ Naked in Manhattan” in NYC, “Pink Pony Club” in Chicago and, of course, a space theme in Seattle for “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl”.

Each stop on the tour has spotlighted a dazzling array of local drag queens for the opening act, an intentional and personal decision by Roan who said on Saturday, “If it wasn’t for drag, I wouldn’t be in pop at all.” Local Seattle drag queens Sofia D’Torah, Rowan Ruthless and Kylie Mooncakes charmed the crowd with their elaborate outfits and sparkling setlists complete with plenty of Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. Roan reminded the audience to “tip their queens” and lamented the contrast in drag and queer culture in places like Texas and Florida, encouraging extra support to be sent to local performers, especially in the south.

From the first moment she took the stage, Chappell cast a spell on the crowd. Adorned in shimmering blue eye shadow and a white and silver metallic get up, the singer brought a magnetic energy to the entire room. She immediately launched into “Femininomenon,” a hyped-up, catchy anthem that demands you to dance along. The crowd continued to belt along to “Red Wine Supernova,” a song similar to “Naked in Manhattan” which explores themes of queer expression.

“This space is your space and this is your concert,” the singer told the crowd. “You can scream as loud as you want and dance as much as you want. This is your space to be free.” The infectious energy of the music and Roan’s stage presence felt like something truly out of this world. Transitioning from sultry ballads to pop beats, the room was soaked with an enthralling energy of a glamorous night out with friends.“After Midnight” and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” followed, wrapping the audience in club light imagery and synth sensations. Roan had the whole place dancing in sync to the “HOT TO GO!” dance routine before slowing down the set with a dreamy rendition of “Kaleidoscope.”

“Everyone put your claws up,” Roan instructed the audience, before gliding into a stripped version of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. After catching the audience in a collective sway with “My Kink Is Karma” the singer departed the stage, until everyone was practically screaming “Chappell! Chappell! Chappell!” She returned to perform the soulful song “California,” captivating the crowd before blasting “Pink Pony Club,” a whirl of soaring vocals and disco lights, the perfect conclusion to a glitter infused night. Blowing kisses and thanking the crowd, Roan bounded off the stage, leaving a euphoric atmosphere to linger long after the final note faded. Tickets for the Australian and European leg of The Midwest Princess Tour are on sale now.

Q&A Interview with Chappell (Answers have been edited for clarity)

Q: I know you’re a very creative person with your lyrics and your music and your music videos. I’m curious if you ever find yourself in a creative rut, how do you get out of that?

A: Yes, I find myself in creative ruts a lot. I think it’s about being gentle and just continuing to just practice. It’s like training for a race or something. If you don’t get an amazing time the first time, you can’t just stop running, you have to continue to push yourself through the horrible dread of training. And I think that’s the creativity, you just have to kind of write horrible songs to get to the good ones. They’re all important stepping stones, you just have to do it.

Q: What’s your favorite song to perform live and why?

A: I think My Kink is Karma because it’s crazy and people go really crazy. I don’t know, I like to feel that energy, there’s lots of electricity in the air.

Q: What’s been one of your favorite moments so far on this tour?

A: I loved it when there was a night where people put little hearts over their camera flashlights during “Kaleidoscope” and it was really cute and you just look out and it was just a rainbow throughout the whole crowd. It was just so cute, I almost cried, I loved that.