Chappell Roan’s emotional message in Kansas City: ‘All I ask is that you listen’
In heartfelt moments with fans in Kansas City during two sold-out concerts, an emotional Chappell Roan told fans she’s certain what her life’s work should be — making queer people feel safe and heard.
Delivering the same message both nights, the Willard, Missouri, native sounded overwhelmed by the welcome she had received in Kansas City, which lit up buildings on its skyline, including City Hall, in pink lights for the “Pink Pony Club” singer.
She felt the love. In fact, on night 2, Roan mistakenly referred to Kansas City as her hometown, immediately correcting herself by saying “home state, home state.”
She brought her Visions of Damsels and Other Dangerous Things mini-tour to the National WWI Museum and Memorial on Friday and Saturday, with crowds of 30,000 each night.
“The city of Kansas City has shown up for me in a way that no one else ever has,” she said. “It’s so cool to look out and see the pink around the city in the coffee shops and people dressed up everywhere.
“It’s so special and so affirming that this is exactly what I’m supposed to do, in that despite everything in the world right now that the only thing that matters to me is literally make queer people feel safe and heard and seen.
“And of course, of course, this space is for you if you’re not queer.”
She said some of her high school friends were in the crowd Saturday night.
Roan doubled down on her support for the LGBTQ community, especially for fellow Midwesterners.
“I know it can be quite hard to be different in the Midwest and queer in the Midwest and I just wanted to dream of something like this, that I could dress up however I want to and wear whatever makeup I wanted to and I would be OK and not be made fun of.”
She told a story she shares often of how people in high school in Willard, located in the Bible belt of southwest Missouri, called gay people “clowns.”
“So I fully adopted that. That’s why I do the white face and ... why I was a clown on the Grammys. I just want to say, like, but what’s wrong with a clown?”
She chose to bring her mini-tour to just three cities. She performed four shows in Queens, New York, before Kansas City. She has two more shows in Pasadena, California, this week before heading back on the road overseas.
“I just think that this means so much to me because I can feel quite lost at times being so far away from home and halfway around the world, and this is something so special being in Missouri. And you don’t have to understand everything about me or what I stand for or everyone in this crowd.
“All I ask is that you listen. So thank you for being here. Thank you to the city of Kansas City. This is so awesome. I love you.”
Both nights she thanked the sign language interpreter.
“Doing the Lord’s work,” she said Friday night.
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