Chappell Roan is an American singer songwriter who released their debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” on Sept. 22 and began a fall tour of the same name three days later.
Roan's album and tour has been met with rave reviews from media outlets like Pitchfork, Variety, and Vogue, deeming her a pop sensation. Seeing the tour live and listening to the album on repeat, I can wholeheartedly agree with these outlets' rave reviews.
Tour
Chappell Roan began her fall tour on Sept. 25 in California. Roan made a stop at Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit on Oct. 10, this was her ninth stop on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess Tour. Roan made several outfit themes for all her shows asking everyone to participate on Instagram and creating mood boards for them, the theme for Detroit was rainbow.
“I thought about the themes years ago and I was like it would be so fun to do this one day,” Roan said. “I think it's created a space where people can really express themselves freely and without judgment and I think that's the most important part of the themes.”
Every stop of her tour, Roan finds local drag queens to bring out as her openers. The artists in Detroit were ANTI, Perry Dox, and Aphrodite. Aphrodite performed a rendition of "Venus" by Lady Gaga, Perry Dox did a burlesque number, and ANTI did the worm dance move. These queens brought an amazing uniqueness to the concert and made it stand out from any other concert experience I’ve been to.
“We have 41 shows, so we have a lot of queens, three queens for every show and they're all local,” Roan said. “I look for drag artists in general who can just really bring it.”
Being able to support the queer community is something Roan loves to do and is the backbone of her tour with supporting the local queer communities she visits. Another big proponent of her support is some of the proceeds from her ticket sales for the tour goes to “For The Gworls”, a charity to help Black trans people pay for their rent and gender-affirming surgeries.
“It's been so fulfilling to uplift the queens and the kings in a way that's just so pure,” Roan said. “It's a great way to shine a light on another part of the community, there's a lot of joy in drag.”
Chappell Roan put on one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever been to. The entire room was shaking from the first song, with the energy in the room being at an all time high throughout the entire show, you could feel everyone's happiness shouting the lyrics with her. Half-way through her set, before performing her song "HOT TO GO!", she stopped to teach the audience the HOT TO GO dance were audience participation was mandatory. I can't wait to see a Chappell Roan show again because it was one of the best I've ever been to, from her audience interactions to her energetic performance.
Album
Chappell Roan released “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” on Sept. 22. which includes 14 songs with a 49 minute run time. This is Roans debut album. It took Roan four years to finish the album entirely. She also released a plethora of singles leading up to the album's release with music videos for each of the singles.
In her previous works, Roan described herself as dark pop with ballad undertones, but with this debut album she has completely shifted her style into a happier upbeat pop.
“Slumberparty pop is what I am now,” Roan said. “It's similar to slumber parties where you have fun girly time, then at night there's a girl who tells her deepest secret and everyone starts crying, I think that’s exactly what my music is.”
Album Highs
The lyricism is superb throughout the entire album. The album is filled with one liners and emotion, that just makes you think in so many different ways. You start the album with the song “Feminiomenon” with lyrics like “Hit it like rom-pom-pom-pom, get it hot like Papa John,” which are just fun lyrics with an amazing beat. Then a few songs in with the song “Coffee” you get heart clenching lyrics like “I’ll meet you for coffee ’cause if we have wine you’ll say that you want me, I know that's a lie.” This album has fun quips with the same songs that are emotionally wrecking you.
This album is filled with queer joy and you can tell. Chappell is being exactly herself and it's clear she put her everything into it.
“I think the music is great. I worked for years on it and I did a good job and I struggled for a long time,” Roan said. “I think it's great and I love it.”
Verdict
I don't have any lows for this album, it is constantly on repeat on my phone and in my head. If you like fun, flirty and emotional pop music, then this album is for you.
I give “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” a 10 out of 10 rating.
