CHAPPELL ROAN (Manchester Academy)
Verdict: Pop’s new powerhouse
As Chappell Roan opened her sold-out UK tour with this packed Manchester show, it was hard to escape the feeling we were witnessing the coronation of pop’s next major star.
The singer from Willard, Missouri, was virtually unknown when her debut album, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, came out in September 2023, but her career has recently taken off with such speed that she now seems unstoppable.
The atmosphere at this smallish, club-like gig was electric, and Roan seized the moment with relish. Backed by an all-girl, three-piece band, and dressed in lilac cowboy boots and a mermaid-themed leotard decorated with sea shells and pearls, she twirled and high-kicked her way across the stage as she belted out her super-catchy songs for a predominantly female crowd.
Roan, 26, could have played a larger venue, but she was still a cult phenomenon — or ‘femininomenon’, as one of her songs puts it — when this concert was announced in January, and she clearly wanted to show her mettle in an intimate setting before stepping up to bigger arenas.
Chappell Roan performs at the Manchester Academy on September 13, 2024
The 26-year-old took her name from her late grandfather, Dennis K. Chappell, and his favourite cowboy sing, The Strawberry Roan
With no giant screens, plumes of fire or confetti cannons to add to the spectacle, this was a refreshingly old-school evening. Special effects were limited to a wind machine that ruffled her long red hair, and a few clouds of dry ice.
Her fans, many wearing outfits as colourful as hers, lapped it up. Roan is adept at articulating the emotions of her young devotees with simple, relatable songs, and the dedication she inspires was obvious. One fan cried tears of joy after unexpectedly being gifted a spare ticket outside the show. Afterwards, I heard the phrase ‘best gig ever’ repeated as the faithful made their way home.
The singer born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz is unashamedly over-the-top. She took her stage name in honour of her late grandfather, Dennis K. Chappell, and his favourite cowboy song, The Strawberry Roan, and she views Chappell Roan as her ‘drag persona’: a high-camp alter-ego that informs her fashion sense and allows her to be more open — and frequently risqué — in her lyrics.
Boosted by its superb songs, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess finally topped the UK charts in August, and it provided the bulk of the material here.
Roan has dated both men and women, and her music deals candidly with her sexual awakening, her romantic mishaps, and LGBTQ culture.
The ‘rise and fall’ of the title refers to how she spent her early 20s working in a drive-through coffee shop after her initially promising career temporarily stalled.
Accompanied onstage by Lucy Ritter’s compact drums, Allee Futterer’s rumbling bass and Andrea Ferrero’s raucous guitar, she sparked a series of word-perfect singalongs as she brought a rock-orientated crunch to songs that have a slicker, more electronic sheen on record.
Picture You was a soulful ballad with a doo-wop feel. Red Wine Supernova almost raised the roof. On Pony Club, she sang of her first visit to a Hollywood gay bar, while the cheerleader-like chant of HOT TO GO! was accompanied by a corny dance routine that evoked memories of the Village People’s disco hit YMCA.
Beneath the glam exterior there also lurks a softer, more nuanced artist. Roan was signed to Atlantic Records for five years as a folky, more serious-minded performer, and she provided a glimpse of her roots as a ‘depressed kid’ from small town Missouri on acoustic ballad Coffee, sung with only guitarist Ferrero alongside her.
Roan sang hits such as Pink Pony Club from her latest album Good Luck Babe!
For now, though, she’s making waves as an extravagant star in the tradition of Madonna and Lady Gaga. Unlike many of her peers, she’s also an organic success story. While Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter come from a Disney background and Taylor Swift was schooled in the Nashville hit factory, a teenage Roan launched her career by posting music on YouTube.
She’s now planning ahead. This 70-minute concert will need fleshing out as she rockets up the live ladder, but she’s already introducing new material into her repertoire. Among the highlights of this show were the non-album single Good Luck, Babe! and melodramatic ballad Subway, as yet unreleased. This was a triumphant first night — but, for Chappell Roan, the party is just beginning.
Chappell Roan plays London’s O2 Academy Brixton, tonight and tomorrow (ticketmaster.co.uk).
Best of the new releases:
LONDON GRAMMAR: The Greatest Love (Ministry Of Sound)
Once crippled by anxiety, Hannah Reid is now an assertive, confident frontwoman — and her celestial voice takes centre stage on the fourth London Grammar album.
Reid, who became a mother for the first time this year, combines folky textures with dramatic swoops that reflect her classical training.
‘This is my place, my house, my rules,’ she sings on House, and You And I takes the form of a letter to her younger self.
The title track adds epic, orchestral trimmings while keeping the trio’s alternative pop credentials intact.
Hannah Reid of London Grammar performs at O2 Academy Birmingham in 2021
Cover artwork for The Greatest Love by London Grammar
NELLY FURTADO: 7 (Polydor)
Back with her first album in seven years — and her seventh overall, hence the title — the Portuguese-Canadian singer skips effortlessly between styles.
The effect is scatter-gun, and there’s nothing as immediate as 2000’s I’m Like A Bird or 2008’s Broken Strings here, but Furtado’s versatility is an asset as she duets with Colombian band Bomba Estereo, on the Latin-tinged Corazon, and Swedish star Tove Lo, on dance number Love Bites.
She shows a more soulful side on All Comes Back, sung with fellow Canadian Charlotte Day Wilson.
Nelly Furtado sings at the 16th Annual Artists for Peace and Justice Fundraiser during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2024
Furtado poses with the number seven on her back for her new record
BLOSSOMS: Gary (ODD SK)
The Stockport quintet are building on their jangling guitar roots by adding smooth funk and blue-eyed soul.
They’ve also recruited a new guest, with witty Irish singer CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) helping to evoke Blondie’s Rapture on I Like Your Look, and contributing to the New Order-ish Why Do I Give You The Worst Of Me?.
Singer Tom Ogden’s lyrics are ingenious, too, with Big Star his tale of a Los Angeles tastemaker, and the title track the bizarre, but true, story of a giant fibreglass gorilla stolen from a Scottish garden centre.
The Blossoms perform for a crowd at Sefton Park in Liverpool on May 2, 2021
Cover art for the Blossoms’ album entitled Gary
Track of the week:
BAD DREAMS by TEDDY SWIMSTHE
Atlanta singer builds on his smash hit Lose Control, streamed over a billion times, with a relaxed country-soul number.
Having wowed the Reading and Leeds festivals, he returns for a sold-out London show in November.
