Actually, Chappell Roan Doesn’t Owe You Anything!

It feels like Chappell Roan’s Gov Ball performance happened two years ago, especially with what September has been for her. The discourse around her, which has only gotten more and more immense with every waking day, seemed to have come to a boil this week when she declined to endorse a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Of course, Chappell had to—but shouldn’t have—clarify that she is voting for Kamala Harris in November after explaining that she could not put her “entire project behind” “some of the left’s completely transphobic and genocidal views.”

Having conversations like this with liberals is like bashing your head up against the wall. How dare a 26-year-old take into consideration that a candidate like Harris, who said “I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself” at the Democratic National Convention last month, might not be someone deserving of one’s glowing endorsement. As I myself continue to deliberate over whether or not I will even cast a vote in November, I empathize with Chappell’s completely rational stance on the matter.

As of August 15th, it was reported that more than 40,000 people—many of whom were civilians—were killed by Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza, and that almost 100,000 have been wounded. A large percentage of the 2.3 million people living in the enclave were pushed out of their homes, as well. To me, casting a vote for someone who has poisoned her calls for a ceasefire by doubling down on the United States sending weapons to Israel is not something you can just put blind faith in for the sake of “not letting Republicans win.” It’s okay to have some shred of a moral backbone; if I was Chappell, I wouldn’t be going to work after all of this, either.

Again, Chappell has the internet turned inside out today, but not for her political stances. No, instead, she announced this morning that she would not be taking the All Things Go stages in Washington D.C. and New York City on Saturday and Sunday as originally planned. Naturally, everyone who bought a ticket to the festival is a bit pissed off about the news. One X/Twitter user even wrote “i really don’t think chappell cancelling **the day before** ATG is defendable like it really really sucks,” before expressing solidarity with the people who “worked so hard to afford tickets and travel” to see Chappell play.

I’m sorry, but what the fuck? What simulation are we living in? I’ve seen a few users online go as far as saying that, yes, Chappell does owe them, because they purchased a ticket to see her in the first place. It’s the same harebrained train-of-thought that leads people to believe that, because they paid money to attend a local show, they have the right to be on poor behavior during it—scrolling on their phones, talking over the opener’s set, hollering things at the headliner. No wonder Mitski falls off the grid every couple of years; this shit is exhausting just to read about on social media, let alone be subjected to it in a new city every single night. Fans want artists to set boundaries and take time to heal themselves when they need it—that is, they want that until it affects them. Chappell’s previous mentions of living with Bipolar II disorder mean nothing when a fan’s money is involved, or at least that’s what the internet would have you believe today.

The consensus online is that Chappell’s All Things Go cancellation is detrimental and heartbreaking, but only for the people not named Chappell Roan—with the assumption that a good percentage of this year’s attendees were coming only to see her perform. When did festival culture turn into this? Did we collectively forget that, on both ATG days, there are over a dozen other artists set to make appearances? Have we all chosen to ignore the fact that Chappell Roan is not even the headliner on Saturday, and that she is also not the top-billed act on Sunday? What does this attitude say about the other acts scheduled to play? Do we all dislike Jack Antonoff that much? Surely not.

Such a turn in events is a fickle one where, really, everybody loses. The fans who bought tickets only to see Chappell lose; All Things Go, who will surely see attendance numbers drop as a result of this, loses; and Chappell, who cancelled her performances by citing that “things have gotten overwhelming over the past weeks and I am really feeling it,” loses because a mental health-driven decision is being admonished by even the strongest Midwest Princess faithful.

I think X/Twitter user @skullmandible said it best a few hours ago: “chappell roan was a lotta people’s new favorite parasocial cuddly toy and then she went ‘hey, i’m a person give me some space and also here are my extremely reasonable political opinions’ and some of the Can’t Make a Phone Call Squad are really struggling with that.” Chappell, refreshingly, has not given in to anyone’s expectations of her. She didn’t beg for attention from anyone, instead delivering absolute scorcher performances and amassing some of the biggest festival crowds of this century in the process. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess came out a year ago, and it took six months after its release for her to really capture the stardom she is now having a hard time contending with. Paste contributor Grace Robins-Somerville wrote a really great essay about the parasocial relationships that have cast a toxic shadow over Chappell’s meteoric rise, so I’ll let her words do the talking.

But this All Things Go ordeal has left a sour taste in my mouth. When you buy tickets to a festival, you know you’re taking the risk that the artist you want to see might end up cancelling. And one artist not showing up is absolutely not going to stop that festival from continuing on full-steam ahead. Despite her streaming numbers and overall zeitgeist domination, the world will not stop for Chappell Roan. She wouldn’t want it to, anyway. If you bought the outrageously overpriced ATG tickets and planned on only watching Chappell’s set, well, then you signed an invisible contract by doing so. You should have read the fine print. Why are we all calling for a mass vigil because a couple thousand people won’t get to watch an artist’s set through their cell phone screens because they’re recording the whole thing for their Instagram stories?

I’d also like to point out that, on both Saturday and Sunday, one of the greatest performers of this century is set to play, and their name is not Chappell Roan. It’s Janelle Monàe, whose 2018 album Dirty Computer is simply one of the best records ever made. Oh, and Ethel Cain is going to be there. Soccer Mommy and Mannequin Pussy, too. Rachel Chinouriri!! Julien fucking Baker! MUNA consistently puts on one of the best live shows, and they’re one of the Sunday headliners. The sheer starpower still arriving at All Things Go this weekend is unbelievable, and those who choose to forgo their Chappell-induced disappointments and make the trek to the stages are going to be fed so well with some of the best pop and rock music being made in 2024.

I implore you, if you bought a ticket to All Things Go just to see Chappell Roan, to take a step back and breathe. Just because an employee called in sick from work doesn’t give you the right to besmirch them. Go to D.C. or NYC and find yourself a new obsession. Holly Humberstone put out an awesome record last year. So did Del Water Gap, Blondshell and Indigo De Souza. Have you listened to Sadurn yet? They were on the I Saw the TV Glow soundtrack. I hear that the new Remi Wolf joint is a blast, too! Look, Chappell Roan is great, but there are other musicians waiting to meet you. We’ve all had friends flake on us last minute. Hell, we’ve been the ones doing the flaking from time to time. You’ll learn to get past it. So, go forth into the unknown and conquer All Things Go’s great lineup, you might be surprised what a couple hundred dollars can get you.