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Chappell Roan’s live team on her ‘exhilarating’ rise

Chappell Roan’s agents and promoters have spoken to IQ about managing the live campaign behind the world’s fastest-rising artist.

The 26-year-old pop star (real name Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in September 2023 but its commercial breakthrough didn’t come till almost a year later.

In the UK, the record slid into the charts in April this year at number 68 before a 17-week ascent to No.1 at the start of August. In her native US, it only hit peak position on the Billboard 200 chart last month.

Despite the record’s slow burn, her live team had no doubts that the Missouri-born star would get the recognition she deserved.

“It was only a matter of time before the world caught up with Chappell,” says Wasserman Music’s Adele Slater and Anna Bewers, who represent the artist alongside their US colleagues Jackie Nalpant and Kiely Mosiman.

The combination of Roan’s ‘campy-pop’ theatrical shows and a savvy live strategy helped to bring the ‘sleeper hit’ album to life.

“It was only a matter of time before the world caught up with Chappell”

“She started the year supporting Olivia Rodrigo across the US and really connected with her audience,” the agents continue. “Then she went straight onto Coachella and then with each festival appearance throughout the US, she gained traction, upgrading all her headline US dates.”

“At Gov Ball, she emerged from a half-eaten apple in full Statue of Liberty drag as an homage to NYC, and then built up to the biggest audience ever seen on an afternoon slot at Lolla Chicago. The exposure gained from these festival appearances, and the growing loyal, global fan base showed what a force of nature she is.”

These live shows were matched by her performance in the charts, with multiple singles from …Midwest Princess skidding into the top 10.

With the world finally paying attention to Roan, the promoters of her already-underway second headline tour The Midwest Princess Tour were faced with the task of satiating ballooning demand.

“I’ve worked with a lot of overseas artists from the start of their careers but I don’t think I’ve worked on an artist who has blown up like Chappell Roan,” Luke Temple, promoter at SJM Concerts, tells IQ.

“I first heard her music back in 2020. Some of the singles released that year get some of the biggest reactions at the live shows. With her 2023 …Midwest Princess album and multiple singles being in the top 10 for the past four months this year, it shows what an unconventional campaign this has been….very much driven by people being exposed to her songs and falling in love with them. It’s great to see.”

“I’ve worked with a lot of overseas artists from the start of their careers but I don’t think I’ve worked on an artist who has blown up like Chappell Roan”

Having promoted Roan since her very first UK show, Temple is well-versed in adapting to her ever-growing fanbase.

“Our first show on-sale with Chappell was at Colours (300 capacity) in June 2023 and this was quickly upgraded to The Garage (600 Cap),” he remembers. “Fifteen months later we’ve shifted 14,000 tickets [to the Brixton Academy shows] in a heartbeat. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that sort of increase in demand.”

Temple is referring to the star’s three sold-out nights at the 4,921-capacity Brixton Academy in London – a major upgrade from the single show at the 5,300-capacity Hammersmith Apollo that was initially scheduled.

“Normally when rescheduling dates and moving venues you expect fans to be unhappy but I think from the moment she played in the UK, Chappell has built a strong connection with her fans,” says Temple.

“The fans are on the journey with her and from reading her socials, when these dates rescheduled, they understood why they moved and the shows went smoothly with very limited refunds. However, satisfying the huge demand is clearly going to be a challenge going forward.”

“Chappell’s meteoric rise this summer has been nothing short of exhilarating”

DF Concerts’ Ellen McEleney had a similar experience when booking Roan’s only Scotland show, which ended up at O2 Academy Glasgow.

“Chappell’s meteoric rise this summer has been nothing short of exhilarating,” she tells IQ. “The original Scottish show was due to be in a 600-cap room, but due to the incredible demand, we upgraded it twice. Ultimately we settled on O2 Academy Glasgow (2,500), ensuring more fans could be accommodated. I had tried to see if we had the possibility of adding more dates in Scotland, but scheduling constraints limited us to a single show. It’s safe to say this was the hottest ticket in Scotland for 2024.”

McEleney says that closely monitoring fan reactions and social media trends allowed the DF team to be proactive and secure venue upgrades well in advance to meet the overwhelming demand for her shows.

Even with upgraded concerts across the board, demand for Roan’s highly anticipated shows has far outstripped the supply. As a result, a batch of tickets to her US concerts ended up in the hands of scalpers – but not for long.

The singer and her team cancelled “all the scalper tickets we could” before returning them to the market for fans to purchase.

“Due to the lack of regulations in the US, artists have very little control over ensuring tickets on the primary platform go to actual fans at the prices approved by artists and their team,” her US team at Wasserman Music explained.

“Secondary brokers who purchase for high-demand shows make large profits by exploiting fans on secondary ticketing sites but unfortunately that practice is largely not illegal. Ideally, we would have more control in the first place but until then we do feel cancelling obviously fraudulent purchases and re-selling them to actual fans with the help of a request system is the best path forward.”

“Every show is themed to create an all-embracing and devoted community into Chappell’s world, where everyone is welcome”

As McEleney points out: “A rapid rise like this brings challenges such as managing high demand and addressing issues like secondary market touts, which Chappell herself has always been incredibly vocal about protecting her fans from.”

Indeed, Chappell’s close relationship with her fans has gone from strength to strength as the star has gained traction.

“Witnessing Chappell’s intimate interactions with her fans during meet-and-greets and the excitement surrounding her exclusive merchandise, and of course, seeing 2,500 people performing the H-O-T-T-O-G-O dance, was one of the best moments of my career to date,” adds McEleney. “It’s been a privilege to be a part of her journey and we cannot wait to have her back to Scotland.”

Wasserman Music’s Slater and Bewers concludes: “From the start she has been conscious about making the shows as inclusive as possible, including gender-neutral bathrooms and accessibility for all, we want to ensure all fans feel safe and respected at every show. She creates a platform for local drag queens to open, and every show is themed to create an all-embracing and devoted community into Chappell’s world, where everyone is welcome.”

 


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