Show Review
Chappell Roan & Angie McMahon
@ Corona Capital CDMX
I knew, after Chappell Roan drew 80,000 people to Pasadena and I didn't read a single complaint, that she was for real. I'm not a Chappell Roan fan in the way I'm a Charli XCX fan- a topic which has gone unaddressed on this blog, but I, like everyone even tangentially aware of the market for popular music in America/UK/EU, have witnessed her rise in awe. It's helped that Chappell shares a booking agent with Margo Price, so I've seen the Instagram stories and had conversations about it as it's been happening. Surely, I would have gone to the Pasadena shows but my partner was travelling.
This was my first time in CDMX, and I'll spare readers the details. Angie McMahon, who my partner manages, was on the bill and it was my partner's birthday week, so I was there. The festival was top to bottom impressive, just as well run as anything in the United States. The obvious comparison is with Coachella, if Coachella was the ONLY festival of its kind in the entire country. The crowd was incredible- something I'd heard many times in the past but was witnessing for the first time. Specifically, Angie McMahon, playing an early time slot that would have been a classic Coachella death trap, drew a respectably sized, rapturous crowd that left everyone feeling great.
After her set I caught some of Mogwai and half of the Alabama Shakes- a rare instance where insight gained from the 1,001 Novels: A Library of America project gave me a real-time boost of appreciation for a different artist. We watched the Chappell Roan set from her "family" box- I had a view of her very appreciative Dad for most of the set. I am here to say that the Chappell Roan live show is flat-out incredible, and watching it being well received by a Mexican audience that shares few, if any of the same cultural influences was nothing short of astonishing. The two major comparison I heard first timers making afterwards were to Queen and Lady Gaga....which seems like solid company. All my questions were answered by this performance. All Hail Chappell Roan!
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