Chappell Roan performed her last tour dates of the year on the American Express stage at Austin City Limits on weekends one and two, October 6 and 13, 2024. In front of the stage, there was an endless crowd of pink cowboy hats and bandanas alongside a Texas flag with horizontal rainbow stripes. When the festival gates opened at 11 a.m., some fans had already set up camp at the barricade, even though Roan’s show was scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
In her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” Roan describes experiences that many queer people face in their young adulthood. She sings about online love, sexuality, unrequited love, “situationships,” moving on from old relationships, karma and a “Pink Pony Club” in West Hollywood, California.
It would be ignorant to overlook the significant impact Roan has had on recent popular culture. Being a self-identifying lesbian woman, it opens an even wider space to make queer voices heard.
Yet before Roan was headlining major festivals, Roan herself performed at the University of Southern California’s FemFest, which is an annual “counter-patriarchal music festival” hosted by USC Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment. The event aims to amplify voices of women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.
USC FemFest brought her on stage at McCarthy Quad on March 25, 2023. According to Morgan Stewart, a co-executive director of USC FemFest, the organization has always had a commitment to focus on uplifting femme, non-binary and people of color artists. The organization dates back to 2014 with the same vision always in mind.
Stewart mentions that the committee’s admiration of her music influenced them to include her in their show. Although the organization offered a little less than Roan was requesting, she ultimately performed because she felt a connection to the FemFest message.
“I think it’s also so important that her message of queer exploration, [her] fun and uplifting drive is now on a big main stage,” Stewart said.
Since then, Roan has performed at other major music festivals like Governors Ball, Coachella and Lollapalooza.
“It’s such a beautiful thing to see her move up to those stages,” Stewart said. “It’s also a big source of pride for both me and the entire FemFest committee that we got to see her before she had this meteoric rise.”
Although her Austin performance ended 10 minutes short of her allotted time, she brought enough energy to keep her crowd entertained throughout the entire show. Her audience is far and wide. Attendees at the “Pink Pony Club” included two male middle-aged middle school teachers, a woman who came to the festival with her husband from San Antonio to Austin just to see Roan and a group of teenage boys. Not to mention, Chris Rock, Sia and Ellie Goulding were also in attendance.
Near the end of her set, Roan sang an unreleased single titled, “The Subway.” She described the song as a cousin of “Casual.” The song is about constantly being reminded of an ex while getting over them. It is a heartfelt slow ballad that describes the bittersweet feeling of healing.
With the crowd’s reaction, it’s safe to say that, while Roan’s success is far from the beginning, it’s even further from the end. She expressed gratitude throughout the show. “It’s been such a beautiful year and this is such a beautiful way to end it,” she said. “I love you, I love you, I love you. Thank you for having me.”