Chappell Roan stopped in Kansas City, Mo., over the weekend as a part of her Visions of Damsels and Other Dangerous Things tour. The pop-up tour had dates in only three cities: — New York, Los Angeles and Kansas City. The Midwestern stop was meaningful to Kansas Citians, as it’s located in the singer’s home state of Missouri.
The city went all out for her arrival, lighting up many of its downtown buildings in pink, à la “Pink Pony Club,” painting a mural of the “Midwest Princess” across from the city’s Hamburger Mary’s, where she saw her first drag show, creating special menu items at local bars and restaurants, and even covering its streetcar in a special “Pink Pony Express” wrap to mark the occasion.
Roan performed to a sold-out crowd of 30,000 both nights on the lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial. She featured local drag performers, including Karmella Uchawi and Minti Varieties, as openers for the shows, as well as musical acts Japanese Breakfast and Baby Tate. Roan’s decision to include the city in the tour was significant to many queer Midwesterners, and LGBTQ+ pride was on display in makeup, signs and costumes throughout the weekend.
During the show, the singer spoke about how she knows it can be hard growing up queer in the Midwest, and that with all that’s going on in the world, bringing the queer community joy is the most important thing to her at the moment. She said seeing how her home state showed up for her over the weekend was meaningful to her, and that it affirmed that she was doing exactly what she was meant to be doing.
Katie Currid is a photographer based in Kansas City. Find more of her work online at KatieCurridPhoto.com and on Instagram, at @katiecurrid.
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