LIVE REVIEW: Chappell Roan – Leeds Festival – 23/08/2025

It’s Saturday evening, and Leeds Festival have their work cut out for them. Last night’s headliner Travis Scott left the stage forty minutes early following a hodgepodge of a setlist, (lots of songs getting just a single verse aired before hopping to the next one), plenty of fans demanding refunds the minute the lights went up. And while it’s likely many of those wearing pink cowboy hats today weren’t personally victims of the ‘unreliable rapper’ curse that befalls Bramham Park far too often, a hitch-free Chappell Roan co-headline slot is essential to save the festival’s image for the rest of this weekend.

Roan may fill the ‘token pop girly’ headline archetype Leeds has come to rely on in recent years, but it’s arguably the first time they’ve gotten the timing completely right. Halsey’s slot came after their mainstream peak and supporting a much less accessible record; Lana Del Rey’s amidst criticisms of her tardiness and stagnant, lacklustre live shows; while Billie Eilish’s felt too late, compensation for her mid-afternoon 2019 set that pulled a record-breaking Main Stage crowd after being originally slated for a tent. The album cycle for The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess has been an exemplary pop era for Chappell Roan, showcasing her undeniable talent and fascinating creative mind as well as establishing her as a paragon of fierce authenticity (even if her setting boundaries with fans has rubbed some of them up the wrong way), this Leeds headline set a perfect victory lap before whatever comes next.

There’s no Main Stage at Leeds for now; it’s been transformed into a huge gothic castle complete with grand balconies and a fully functioning drawbridge door. Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl’s opening monologue is the perfect charismatic entry statement, Chappell wearing the most ornately Chappell outfit possible—seriously, there are three copies of her own face across the ensemble (one of them teeters uncertainly on her head if any sudden movements are made, the piece thankfully making a swift exit by second song Femininomenon).

The live vocals are incredible from the off—powerful but flitting around higher octaves with a finesse beyond Roan’s years—but it’s impossible to discuss them without mentioning the support of her stellar live band. Keyboardist Bryn Bliska adds new intricacies to already perfectly crafted pop anthems, but guitarists Andrea Ferrero and Emily Rosenfield make the most impact, bringing an instrumental heft that completely reimagine the synthpop frameworks of these songs. Naked In Manhattan and My Kink Is Karma in particular feel miles better in this reworked rock style and a cover of Heart’s Barracuda soars, Roan’s rich vocal sealing the deal delivery-wise.

Roan embodies this live persona like it’s one of her meticulously-crafted costumes, sinking to her knees and backbending with the effortless cool of a Joan Jett while bringing the eccentric vulnerability of a Kate Bush (at one point serenading a, um, turquoise wig on a microphone stand? Us neither). Interestingly, she rarely lets the mask slip, remaining straight-faced and staring down the lens of the onstage camera like she’s daring you to blink first. She addresses the crowd sparingly, the beloved HOT TO GO! dance (the one real moment of urged crowd participation in the set) taught like a drill sergeant rather than a friend in the club. Two quick run-throughs and a stern warning of consequences for those who remain arms-folded are all that’s needed, making for the most fun moment of the entire hour-and-a-half.  Of course there are other moments of out-and-out joy (like Roan’s cackles during underrated gem Guilty Pleasure where she simulates sex with her soloing guitarist), but it’s clear she’s in favour of selling the fantasy above all else – the crowd are here to watch her leave everything on the stage, not to form a bond with anything but her artistry.

This could make things sound overly serious and like watching a live art installation, but the space Roan has curated for crowd members keeps the fun very much at the forefront even if it’s not overtly from her end. Of course, the songs themselves are a riot—Red Wine Supernova; After Midnight; the aforementioned HOT TO GO!, the list goes on—chock full of hilarious ad-libs punters are practically falling over themselves to join in with (the macho “she gets the job done” in country banger The Giver a particular highlight). But alongside that there’s genuine emotion built into everything, making Leeds’ rendition of The Subway the loudest Roan has heard sung back on her tour thus far, plus the chorus of Casual and bridge of Good Luck, Babe! are moments of throw-arms-around-your-mates, try-to-hit-the-notes catharsis that are sure to become core festival memories for plenty here.  Even covertly, the inclusion of pre-…Midwest Princess single Love Me Anyway is a lull in the set on the surface, but its simplicity makes you realise just how far Roan has come as an artist and just how magical her journey to festival headliner has been.

Eventually, we come to the heartfelt melodrama of Pink Pony Club, the song that started it all for Chappell Roan. As she sings of wicked dreams and leaving Tennessee to be on stage where she belongs, it all feels poetically triumphant. The emotional catharsis rears its head again, the music dropping out in the final chorus to make way for the set’s biggest singalong. It’s hard not to feel like you’re witnessing history in this crowd—not just an out-and-out celebration of one of the best pop eras of the 2020s, but a case study of how a magic cocktail of exquisite talent, boundless creativity and a record as good as The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess can make an artist a bonafide festival headliner in five short years. After this, one thing’s for sure—no one’s thinking about yesterday’s headliner anymore.

Words by Georgia Jackson