In late July I learned that one of my favorite artists was coming to Council Bluffs on Oct. 3: Chappell Roan. When my friend messaged me asking if I wanted to go together, I was ecstatic.
There were two days of presale, followed by the general sale. The first couple days, my friend and I joined the queue for tickets 30 minutes early and waited in anticipation, to no avail. They sold out each time. We lost hope, but nevertheless tried again on the final day. We logged into the ticket queue on over five devices combined and tried again. This time, there were still tickets, but they were resale and that had quickly come to be over $300 per ticket. Way out of our budgets, we resigned.
I didn’t think I was going to get another chance to see Roan after that. Shortly after tickets sold out, Roan posted on her story about working to make tickets accessible again, as most had been bought by bots and resellers. I was not optimistic considering the prices only continued to rise.
However, a week before her concert, I saw someone post two words on their Instagram Notes: “Chappell Roan!!” This spurred me to check the website one last time, and what I saw shocked me. For the first time in months, prices had dropped below $300 and were sitting at $140. I quickly notified my friend and stayed vigilant.
I assumed that this sudden drop in price had part to do with Roan resolving the bot situation, as well as her having cancelled two of her recent concerts. People thought she was going to end up cancelling her performance in Council Bluffs, but I took a chance. By that Tuesday I had secured tickets. Sadly, the friend I was supposed to go with couldn’t make it anymore. I ended up asking around to see who else was going and we threw together a group in 24 hours.
The day of the concert, we met up at 5:30 p.m. and we started our drive to Westfair Amphitheater. However, we ran into a traffic jam. As we slowly inched past cars, we saw people dressed up for the concert and knew we were headed to the same place. At first, we had been so confident that we would get there early, but by the time we arrived it was 7:47 p.m. The venue wasn’t as packed as we thought it would be, so we were able to get pretty close to the stage—right in front of the fence for the pit.
Just as we settled in, the drag queens that were opening for Roan made their appearance. Roan chooses local drag queens for her performances, and this show they were Domita Sanchez, Daphne Danger and Omaha’s Mimosa Savage. They performed to pop and electronic dance music, and it was all met with positive feedback and applause.
The stage dimmed once more, and they played music on the speakers while we waited for Roan. About 30 minutes in, a note appeared on the screen on stage. Roan had written an announcement saying that the concert was to be delayed due to traffic and she wanted as many people to be able to get here as possible. I was a little upset, but a few minutes couldn’t hurt. At one point, people started sitting down on the lawn.
Finally, at 9:30 p.m., the music stopped, people in the pit started screaming, and the rest of us scrambled to get up. Roan appeared in a matter of seconds and began with the song “Femininomenon,” followed by “Naked in Manhattan,” “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” and “Love Me Anyway.” By this point, my friends and I were shocked that she hadn’t stopped to talk with us and just blew through the songs. If she kept this up, the concert would be over in a matter of minutes.
Roan continued with “Love Me Anyway” and “Picture You,” in which she embraced a mic stand with a wig on it as she sang to it endearingly. I thought this was a nice touch, as the song is about Roan not being able to forget someone that meant so much to her in the past, hence the reminiscing. She also sang a cover of “Barracuda” by Heart, which has become one of my favorite songs today. It was quite different from her normal genre, but it showcased her vocals very nicely.
Then, it was the moment everyone was waiting for—as soon as the starting notes for “HOT TO GO!” began to play, more people chimed up and began singing along. People were screaming in front of me as they joined hands and screamed the lyrics. I felt as though a lot of people were only there for her more popular songs because the crowd considerably quieted down during “After Midnight.”
When the song ended, she took a moment to talk to the crowd and everything she said made up for everything she hadn’t up until now. Roan dedicated her words to all the queer people in the Midwest and made sure everyone knew they deserved to be loved regardless of their orientation or identity, regardless of what others around them think. People around me were getting emotional following her message, but they didn’t have much time before she played “Coffee.”
Compared to her more upbeat songs, “Coffee” was mellow and melancholic. About a third of the way in, people started putting up their flashlights and I followed suit. The venue was drowned in lights, and it was a beautiful sight. She transitioned into “Casual,” and then paused to talk once more.
“Subway” came next. This song was a new song that she had yet to release. The crowd was silent as she sang. “Subway” was about not being able to get over someone, going from lovers to mere strangers despite all that they shared before. It was a very relatable song, and resembled the message she conveyed in “Casual.”
The last four songs were well known, and the venue once again exploded into sound as everyone joined in for “Red Wine Supernova,” “Good Luck Babe!,” “My Kink is Karma,” and “California.”
Then, she disappeared off stage, and people started piling out, most likely to beat the rush. My friends and I got closer to the fence as people left and we talked about how short the show had ran. It was only 10:45 p.m.; she had barely performed for over an hour.
Just when we were about to leave, the stage lit up again and Roan came on a final time for “Pink Pony Club.” We sang our hearts out as we knew this would probably be the last song, and a disco ball illuminated where Roan stood.
Roan’s concert was an event that I will remember forever. Originally, I had thought I wouldn’t even be able to get tickets due to the price, but it was a last second miracle. She had skipped over “Guilty Pleasure” and “Kaleidoscope,” but overall, it was a phenomenal experience. Exiting the parking lot, however, was not. That day, I secured a special memory, a Chappell Roan tour t-shirt and the ability to be an assertive driver.
