While it may be a BRAT summer with a jolt of "Espresso" coursing through it, the other pop girl main character right now is unequivocally Chappell Roan. She may be in a midsized font on these festival bills, but she's reliably drawing headliner-sized crowds. (Roan reportedly brought in more fans than Ed Sheeran at Boston Calling last month, and had just as big of a pull at Governor's Ball last weekend.)
In fact, Bonnaroo just announced yesterday (June 12) that the rising star's performance was being moved from the tent where she was initially supposed to perform to the outdoor Which Stage this weekend following fan outcry. A rise this meteoric has become kind of unusual — especially since Roan's album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, came out last September — and would be understandably overwhelming for the artist.
Roan got a little choked up about it all while headlining at the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, NC, last night (June 12). She was introducing "The Subway," the new song she debuted at Governor's Ball that name-checks Saskatchewan, of all places, and broke down in tears.
"I just want to be honest with the crowd," Roan said. "I feel a little off today, because I think my career is going really fast, and it's hard to keep up. I'm just being honest that I'm having a hard time today. So sorry that — I'm not trying to give you, like, a lesser show. It's just, there's a lot… Thank you for understanding. This is all I've ever wanted. It's just heavy sometimes, I think."
Her candour is one of the things people love about the singer-songwriter. Last summer, Roan was still working as a camp counsellor, so all of this attention must feel pretty surreal — and massively difficult — at times.
See a clip of the speech, as well as a longer video of that portion of the performance (in much better quality) below.