A star on the rise
Back in March, Daydreamstate announced the CHBP lineup, which included headliners Kim Petras, Still Woozy, and a new artist quickly gaining traction in the pop scene: Chappell Roan.

When CHBP booked Roan, she was rising to stardom on TikTok and opening concerts in the Midwest for Olivia Rodrigo. Her songs "Casual" and "Pink Pony Club'' became well known among young, female, and LGBTQ+ demographics on the app.

"I discovered her when she released 'Naked in Manhattan' and I was like, 'Oh my god, Queer girlie coming of age?!' and then she dropped 'My Kink Is Karma,' and it reignited my Sapphic hatred for my ex and then it was over," one fan, Bee, said. "Everything she's released since has fucking slapped. It's just banger after banger. I love her energy."

Today, Chappell Roan is one of the biggest names in the pop scene. Her latest release, "Good Luck, Babe," has remained on the Billboard Top Ten for the last month and reached over a million streams on Spotify. In less than a year, she's gone from an opening act to selling out stadiums. Her hyperfeminine "Midwestern Princess" style appeals to fans who embraced 2023's Barbie summer and the Eras tour with glittery pink cowboy hats and knee-high boots.

However, unlike much of last year's hype around Barbie and Taylor Swift, Roan brings something new to the culture: she's unapologetically Queer.

Roan is outspoken about being a Lesbian. Most of her songs, including "Naked in Manhattan," and "Red Wine Supernova," which she performed at CHBP, are exclusively written about women. She has also spoken out about her on-stage persona, which draws inspiration from drag. Her flamboyant outfits; long, curly red hair; and exaggerated makeup looks were intentionally created to mirror drag culture. On her current US tour, Roan has also worked to highlight local drag performers by bringing some out on stage with her. In Seattle, she brought up Sasha Colby during her performance of "Pink Pony Club," interpreted by many fans as an ode to drag.

Queer artists thrive at CHBP
Sarah bought three-day tickets for CHBP and said they were most excited to see headliners Chappell Roan, Elderbrook, and Kaytranada. They traveled eight hours, taking a ferry and a car to Capitol Hill. "I enjoy the vibes they create, especially Chappell," they said of their favorite headliners. "Having a Lesbian artist, especially in the forefront, is so cool."

Despite headliner Kim Petras dropping out of the festival earlier this year and the growing hype around Chappell Roan, Daydreamstate decided not to move Roan up as Friday's main headliner. Instead, she was slated to perform ahead of Friday night's closer, Remi Wolf.

On the festival's first day, several amazing acts took the main stage, including Them, Mind Chatter, and Becky Hill. Other acts, like Annie DiRusso, Jayden Grayson, and Mold Mom, performed on the Neumos, Coke Studio, and Barboza stages, which lined the block. Fans sang along and cheered for all the acts; some even participated by dancing along to DiRusso's cover of "Apples" by Charlie XCX. However, even hours before she was slated to arrive, it was clear the bulk of Friday's crowd was in attendance for Roan.

Welcome to the Pink Pony Club
Chappell Roan has posted "themes" to her social media accounts, encouraging fans to dress up for her shows. Previous ones included "Slumber Party" to go with her song "Naked in Manhattan" and "Space" to go with "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl." According to her social media, her CHBP show theme was "Pink Pony Club."

Many fans showed up in creative homemade outfits. Hazel decorated a cake hat, inspired by her favorite music video. "I watched the 'My Kink Is Karma' music video. I saw a cake, and in my brain, I saw a hat. I made the boots, and the rest I got from Goodwill," she said of her outfit.

"I came here with my friend, Trisha, and it's Pink Pony themed, so we just put it together," another fan, Ash Cameron, said of her outfit, which included friendship bracelet sunglasses and pink nails. Like most fans, Cameron was at the festival to see Roan. "I think she's unapologetically herself, she's very relatable and genuine, and she makes me feel like I'm a part of the community," she said.

Earlier mainstage shows, such as Becky Hill and Them, were filled with crowds of fans in pink cowboy hats. Though many were in attendance for the previous shows, they also expressed excitement to stake out a spot for Roan's 8:45 performance. Some attendees shared that they had purchased three-day VIP passes to the festival with the sole intent of catching Chappell Roan's performance.

A historic crowd
When it came time for Roan to perform her set, the adoring crowd stretched back three blocks, from Broadway to 12th Avenue. Fans were pushed in, shoulder to shoulder, packed like sardines. Attendees at the front of the crowd, like Ysabel Utterback, reported staking spots for nearly eight hours.

"We got here early," they said. "We went from bag check straight to the barrier. I was here for Them right from the start. They went to my high school, and I loved them so much. The entire set was so good, but Chappell Roan was amazing."

Those who couldn't score a ticket to the block party lined the streets just outside the security entrances. Others climbed to the roofs of nearby buildings and crowded into upper apartment windows to catch a glimpse of the Midwest Princess. At one point, over 200 people outside the 76 gas station began chanting and teasing security. In a TikTok video, fans are heard proclaiming that they would storm the gates. The SGN reached out to Capitol Hill Block Party security regarding this issue, but they declined to comment.

Inside the gates, eager fans pushed and shoved to try and get a closer look at Chappell Roan as she took to the stage in an oversized green T-shirt and baggy jeans. Due to the heat, she appeared without her usual drag makeup and outfit but still jumped around the stage with the wide eyes and energy of a baby rabbit. The crowd cheered as she fell to her knees to grind on the front of her guitarist and scream the final note of "My Kink Is Karma." When it came time for her to perform her hit song "Hot To Go," the crowd impressed Roan by knowing the dance.

"We've got some Gay people here," she said with a laugh as she returned the mic to the stand to begin the song.

"Chappell Roan was amazing," Utterback said. "She was up there just being so angelic. I realized they had a fan on her face so it would blow her hair the whole time. She was gorgeous. She would sing her heart out, she'd be screaming these songs, and then the music would cut off at the end of her song, and then she would get up and go, 'Thank you.' And it was the sweetest thing ever."

Safety concerns
Despite the Queer joy Chappell Roan brought to Seattle with her show, there were serious safety concerns by many attendees. "I do have to say, as some people were saying online, that yeah, she really should have been somewhere like Lumen Field or Climate Pledge, because it got scary getting out," Utterback said.

While covering the event, two medical emergencies happened right in front of me. At one point, a group of concertgoers urgently flagged me down to alert security, as the strobing lights had triggered an epileptic episode for one of their friends.

Aside from the noise, crowd, and bright lights, the intense heat, lack of water stations, and easy access to alcohol added to the unsafe environment. Other festival-goers reported seeing people around them collapse from the heat. Many felt overwhelmed by the crowding. Seattle Fire reported having only two EMTs at CHBP on Friday night; they later dispatched a third shortly before the Chappell Roan concert began, after having to assess more emergencies than they could handle on their own.

There were a couple of water-bottle refill stations near the festival's entrances; however, access to nonalcoholic and noncaffeinated drinks was hard to find.

Three hours after the block party gates opened for guests to arrive, medic stations ran out of earplugs. "We were right by the speakers, pretty close to the front. It was really good, but it was too loud, to accommodate [all the] people," one fan, Kelani, reported after the show. (In anticipation of the large crowd, the festival added speakers and screens stretching down Pike to accommodate those too far to see the stage.) "It was also stressful, because people were just shoving their way through," she added.

Despite the discomfort, Kelani and her friend May said they had a good time at the concert and were excited to see other festival headliners, especially Kaytranada and Joey Valence & Bray.

While CHBP did include ADA entrances, wheelchair accessibility at the main stage was limited. As fans continued to push forward to see Chappell Roan, those in wheelchairs were crammed to the far right side of the stage. Not only did they have a limited view, but they were often blocked by overeager fans and press photographers.

Tragedy avoided despite mass exodus
After the show ended, scores of fans rushed to exit the area. Many who attended the concert reflected on the crowd's exodus with relief that nobody was trampled, especially after a similar situation led to the death of ten fans at a Travis Scott concert at the Astro World festival in 2021. The lack of security presence and limited access to exits also caused a major concern. Many expressed their relief online following the event that no major safety issues, such as a fire or mass shooting, occurred, as the setup left thousands of people virtually trapped on Pike Street.

"It was terrifyingly, dangerously packed, and I'm glad I was as far forward as I was, because otherwise I would've had a panic attack knowing the size of that crowd," one attendee, Emma Schmuckekler, told the SGN. "The drone shots are freaky. If there was a surge, people surely would've died. It took me maybe an hour to get out. The space itself is just asking for a tragedy to happen. The CHBP Instagram comments are full of people who have scary stories of people around them passing out and not even hitting the ground. Medics straight up couldn't get to us."

The lack of security was a concern for several fans. "Security wasn't great with the medical. We saw security dancing," Kelani recalled on Saturday.
"Yeah, it was very unserious for the throng there," Kelani's friend, May, added. Noticing the festival's security blunder, many took it into their own hands to keep an eye out and protect their community. "We had a lot of friends, and we made friends, so we kept making sure everyone was safe," May said.

The festival continues
Friday night's final show was reserved for Remi Wolf. While many Roan fans stayed to watch Wolf's performance, there was a stark difference in the audience size, with most content to head out before it even began. "I left after [Chappell Roan]. I was too tired to see Remi Wolf, and the crowd crush to get out gave me a lot of anxiety," Utterback said. "It was difficult. I was probably in that line moving to get out for 30-plus minutes, which was pretty scary, but overall it was an amazing concert. I hope she comes back."

The final two days of the festival felt anticlimactic compared to the historic opening night. No other artists pulled in crowds that could compare to Chappell Roan, though fans were starstruck by acts like Still Woozy, who headlined Saturday night's show.

"I loved [Still Woozy's] concert," said fan Alyssia. "He was so fun to watch!"
"His dancing was iconic," her friend Mica added.

Still, nothing compared to Friday night. Those able to catch a glimpse of Chappell Roan reported that the concert felt magical. There was an unspoken understanding that this was a moment in history that may never be duplicated. "It feels like a cultural moment in time," Roan fan Sativia said to the SGN. "'Pink Pony Club' was my favorite. That one hits home very well."

"She's just this beautiful, beautiful woman, and I was so glad she was here," Utterback added.

For one night, a pop princess big enough to headline Lumen Field or Climate Pledge Arena filled the streets of Capitol Hill, returning CHBP to its Queer roots and igniting a femininomenon.

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