Chappell Roan and the immaculate consecration of safe spaces

Just fifteen months ago Missouri-born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz was performing to a modest crowd of six hundred in North London’s The Garage; a few months on, she was playing back to back nights under the confetti cannons of London’s largest gay nightclub, Heaven. With ten years' skin in the game, the snappiness of Amstutz's ascendance to the mainstream from that point on has been astonishing to witness, and legendary to behold. In a year where pop culture has been defined by the colour ‘brat green’ and Eras-related friendship bracelets, Chappell Roan standing in festival marquees surrounded by swarms of followers cultishly flailing their arms to spell the letters of “HOT TO GO!” has been the other staple visual of 2024.

Now bringing her Midwest Princess Tour to the recently reopened O2 Academy Brixton, it still doesn’t feel like a space big enough to contain Amstutz's infectiously thumping and unapologetically campy choruses, or her festival-reared vocals that manage to hold up against thousands of adoring fans screaming the lyrics back to her. Moreover, for a venue that just a week earlier Azealia Banks was putting on blast for being worn down and in need of refurbishment, Amstutz had the very fixtures of the building shaking during the climactic chants of crowd-favourites “Femininomenon” and “Red Wine Supernova.”

However, much like the fabled tale of Icarus, just as quickly as Chappell Roan has risen to global acclaim, there have been those desperate to topple the pedestal and dampen her plight. It would be remiss to not mention the criticism she has faced for canceling two shows of this European tour leg, in Paris and Amsterdam, in favour of rehearsing and performing at the MTV VMAs; criticism, which I believe, is unjust. Whilst obviously heartbreaking for those fans who missed out this time around, the tour dates were announced ahead of the rampant success Roan received for “Good Luck, Babe!,” her latest single that was nominated for ‘Song of the Summer’ and that plausibly charged her campaign for ‘Best New Artist.’ Who, in her position, would turn down the opportunity to perform at their first award show and accept one of the most coveted awards of the evening, at this knife-edge career moment?

Chappell has also caused a stir with her outspoken comments about feeling unsafe within her sudden fame, asking social media followers to stop harassing her friends and family in public spaces, and to stop feeling as though they have any ownership over her body or image just because it is now plastered across the public eye. Clearly Amstutz is still adjusting to her meteoric ascendance, as anyone would struggle with, and she is left sticking out as a jagged voice in an industry that all too often makes shallow attempts at smoothing over these issues. “Sometimes I find it is harder to speak than sing,” she addresses the crowd before launching into a moving rendition of “Kaleidoscope,” “I think most people that do this would agree.” Whilst some have made a case that it demonstrates a new-found lack of relatability, arguably it emphasises an unabashed and refreshing honesty among her peers, willing her fans to see her as an equal and treat her with due respect. Tied to this concept of personal security more widely, safety and comfortability have become key pillars of the Chappell Roan brand and artistic mission, even if often dressed up in glamorous and eccentric caricature.

Ultimately, Amstutz's concert is a testament to the power of creating a safe space. “I’m so grateful to have the queer community behind me. I needed people that wouldn’t make fun of me, and I feel like you’re not going to make fun of me for wearing this,” she gestures to her bedazzled red leotard, “You belong here. I don’t care where you are on whatever journey you are on, you’re meant to be here. You are cherished and I want you to feel that, that you have someone who understands you. And thank god gay people exist. And thank god straight people support them.”

From employing talent from the local drag scene to warm the audience up, to serenading a blonde wig attached to a microphone stand on “Picture You,” the performance is a vehement showing of queer joy for its entire duration, enveloping the audience in a warm embrace. In setting a different theme each night and inviting the audience to join in the dress up, she curates an inclusive tone, where all can feel part of a community larger than themselves as they don their devil horns and cowboy hats. With LGBTQ+ people pushed to the fringes of society, and on top of this lesbian and bisexual women often left out of public gay spaces, the importance of Amstutz's sheer confidence in her queerness and presence on-stage alongside an all-female band cannot be understated.

Also creating a sense of togetherness, her music – heavily inspired by drag and early 00’s pop hits – naturally lends itself to crowd back-and-forth, with every soul in the room roaring “FUGLY JEANS” when called to on “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.” The setlist is largely a rehashing of her much-acclaimed 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, a record that concluded a three year build up and a run of no less than nine singles. The benefit of having such a bounty of focus tracks is felt in the ferocious energy of the room. Whether in the head-banging of the heavily percussive take-down track “My Kink is Karma” or the utter catharsis of the second-long pause before the chorus of “Pink Pony Club” kicks in, the sense of shared euphoria in the room is palpable. The slight drawback, however, is that those tracks with less clamour amongst the crowd become a little more obvious; the raw and twinkling “Coffee,” or the delicate and fleeting early cut “Love Me Anyway,” for instance. It's a concert with little staging, which is somewhat disappointing but an effort that feels authentically DIY. After all, the bells required can be found in the raucous fun of her discography, and her consumingly powerful voice is all the whistle you need.

If Amstutz has faced controversy among the wider public then so be it, she clearly comes alive when performing and looking face to face, if you will, with reams of adoring fans. It seems that just as she engineers a safe space for her supporters, they in turn become the safe space for her, and act as the fuel to ensure her ascendancy becomes a long and successful reign.

Setlist

Femininomenom
Naked In Manhattan
Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl
Love Me Anyway
Picture You
HOT TO GO!
After Midnight
Coffee
Kaleidoscope
Casual
Subway
Red Wine Supernova
Good Luck, Babe!
My Kink Is Karma
California
Pink Pony Club