Chappell Roan brings striking performance to O2 Academy Brixton
Following her catapult to fame, Chappell Roan brings a vivid and undeniably electric energy to the O2 Academy Brixton during the first night of the London leg of her Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess UK/EU tour, reaffirming her status as a generational queer icon.
On September 22, 2023, Chappell Roan released her first full-length studio album titled The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess to a monthly listener count hovering around 1 million. Nearly a year later, she emerged onto the O2 Academy Brixton stage to a completely sold-out show and an exponentially larger fanbase. Following her rapid rise in listeners in April 2024, an additional date was added to the London leg of her tour – and with the arena completely packed to the brim, it was easy to see why.
The night kicks off with three local drag queens performing as the opening acts – a tradition that Roan has maintained throughout a majority of her career. The boisterous song parodies of Crayola and excellent performances by Glew and Toxiic set the stage for Roan’s performance. When Roan emerges on the stage, the cheers from the crowd are nearly deafening. From the very first song, it’s clear that Roan will go down in history as one of the landmark artists of her generation.
Starting with the gloriously energetic ‘Femininomenon’, Roan spends the next hour and fifteen minutes setting up a haven for queer fans, all of whom are adorning their red and black face makeup and leather outfits to fit the theme of the show. Roan’s drag influences are clear – not only from the campy outfits and makeup that define her stage persona, but from her style of speaking, the power poses she strikes, and her charmingly candid manner of speaking.
It’s clear why some fans lined up from 4am to see Roan perform – the sheer breadth of joy and energy she invites into the arena is palpable, and the experience is almost indescribable. The first half of the show is defined by upbeat bangers. The synth-based ‘Naked In Manhattan’ is an anthem for youthful realizations of queer love. The party beat of ‘Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’ prompts the crowd to scream-sing the lyrics. The instant classic that is ‘HOT TO GO!’ brings the entire room together to do a simple dance spelling out the letters of the song.
As Roan continues, she never shies away from the queer camp influences of her aesthetic – at one point, she brings out a wig on a microphone stand (a figure she has affectionately referred to as Wigita) to stare at with unmasked yearning while she sings the crooning ‘Picture You’. Towards the middle of the show, Roan takes a short break from the high-energy anthems, choosing instead to highlight her breath-taking vocals through the ballads ‘Coffee’ and – for the first time in the European leg of her tour – ‘Kaleidoscope’.
Though less upbeat, these ballads are no less powerful, with fans singing (and in many cases, crying) along to narratives of unrequited love and broken relationships. Roan continues the emotional detour, pulling out a deep-rooted anger through the punchy ‘Casual’ and the heart-breaking unreleased ‘The Subway’. The crowd is enraptured; if anyone isn’t singing along, it’s because they’re stunned silent by the sheer range of Roan’s vocal capabilities.
Throughout the show, Roan centers her and her music’s queerness as an undeniable truth. The energy of the crowd reaches a feverish pitch as she sings the bridge to ‘Red Wine Supernova’ (“I heard you like magic / I’ve got a wand and a rabbit!”), and her astonishing belt in ‘Good Luck Babe’ further feeds into the enthusiasm of those singing along with her. This is not just a queer artist; this is a queer concert for queer people.
After My Kink is Karma, Roan disappears offstage for a moment, only to come back on for a stunning two-song encore, juxtaposing a heart-wrenching ballad about giving up on one’s dreams in ‘California’, before returning to the same state in ‘Pink Pony Club’ for her final song about queer joy and self-discovery in the face of disapproval. As she rounds out the final chorus of the song, she declares “I’m gonna keep on dancing”– a triumphant ending to a show by one of the most promising performers in recent history.
Roan once described The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess as an album about her own queer awakening, and what it meant to stay true to her roots as a former resident of a small town in Missouri. She has described her concerts as a place where queer kids can be themselves and experience a feeling of belonging they may never have before – an experience similar to what she describes in ‘Pink Pony Club’.
And this is what makes Roan’s concerts so powerful. They aren’t just a place to celebrate her music, but queer identity as a whole. “You are meant to be here,” Roan mentions during a speech in the middle of the concert, continuing to affirm, “and you are cherished.” This sentiment isn’t just clear in her words, but in her music, the fans throughout the crowd, and the central experience that Roan curates throughout the entirety of her performance. Roan is bold, striking, and a queer artist whose voice will resonate for generations to come.
Photography by Riya Kataria