People line up to take a photo in front of a mural depicting Chappell Roan before his concert in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, October 3. The mural is near the town’s Hamburger Mary’s, known for its drag shows and where Chappell Roan saw his first drag performance.
Katie Currid for NPR
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Chappell Roan stopped in Kansas City, Missouri this weekend as part of her Visions of Damsels and Other Dangerous Things tour. The short-lived tour had dates in only three cities: — New York, Los Angeles and Kansas City. The Midwest stop was important to Kansas citizens because it is located in the singer’s home state of Missouri.
LEFT: Zach Pixler (left to right), Maggie Croft, Krystian Smith and Shriji Patel pose for a photo inside Kansas City’s Union Station before Friday’s concert. RIGHT: A woman wearing a pink cowboy hat waits at the Union Station trolley stop.
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The city pulled out all the stops for her arrival, lighting up many downtown buildings in pink, “Pink Pony Club” style, painting a mural of the “Midwest Princess” in front of 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 with a special “Pink Pony Express” envelope to mark the occasion.
Chappell Roan fans, many dressed in suits and pink, get off the Kansas City streetcar at Union Station before Friday’s concert. After exploding in popularity last summer, Road chose just three cities for his tour this fall: New York, Los Angeles and Kansas City, which is in his home state of Missouri.
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Roan performed to a sold-out crowd of 30,000 both nights on the lawn of the National World War I Museum and Memorial. She has featured local drag artists including Karmella Uchawi And Mint varietiesopening shows, as well as musical acts Japanese breakfast And Baby Tate. Roan’s decision to include the city in the tour was important to many queer Midwesterners, and LGBTQ+ pride was visible in makeup, signs, and costumes throughout the weekend.
LEFT: Tisha Grogg (left to right), Angela Hopwood and Mia Fiore came from St. Louis to see Chappell Roan perform. RIGHT: Ariana and Aaron Sisneros came from Colorado to see Friday’s show.
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During the show, the singer talked about how she knows it can be difficult growing up queer in the Midwest and that with everything going on in the world, bringing joy to the queer community is the most important thing to her right now. She said seeing how her home country showed up for her over the weekend was meaningful to her and it affirmed that she was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing.
Spectators watch local drag performers open for Chappell Roan Friday at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City.
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LEFT: Drag performer Karmella Uchawi opens for Chappell Roan. RIGHT: Someone in the crowd waves a rainbow fan in the air during the show.
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The city’s streetcar, decorated as the “Pink Pony Express,” stops at Union Station in downtown Kansas City near the National World War I Museum and Memorial, the site of Chappell Roan’s concert Friday.
Katie Currid for NPR
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Katie Currid is a photographer based in Kansas City. Find more of his work online at KatieCurridPhoto.com and on Instagram, at @katiecurrid.
