What is it called when an artist’s first album is already a greatest hits collection?
That’s the question I kept asking during Chappell Roan’s first UK show of 2024 on Friday.
Normally, concerts ebb and flow, but the audience at the Manchester Academy knew more than just the singles. They sang every word, every ad lib, of every song – some with mascara running, others with hands clasped to their chests.
At times, Chappell herself was drowned out. At others, she simply stopped and listened, as the fans chanted her lyrics back at her.
It’s a phenomenon – or, to use Chappell’s terminology, a Femininomenon – that only occurs once in a blue moon.
I saw it when Olivia Rodrigo played her first UK dates in 2022. I saw it when One Direction hit Wembley Stadium. And I saw it on the first leg of Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black tour, before excitement turned to concern.
It happens when an artist speaks directly to their fans. More accurately, it happens when fans feel like an artist is speaking on their behalf.
For Chappell’s audience, the devotion is particularly potent because of what she represents.
The 26-year-old is the first pop star to achieve mainstream success as an openly queer person, rather than coming out as part of their post-fame narrative.
Her debut album, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, is a real-life coming of age story, full of messy, complex relationships and tentative sexual experimentation.
She made the first half of it while dating a man, until she realised her lyrics had exposed her true feelings.
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