Chappell Roan’s fans welcome the ‘Midwest Princess’ to Kansas City
Chappell Roan stopped in Kansas City, Mo., over the weekend as a part of her Visions of Damsels and Other Dangerous Things tour. The pop-up tour had dates in only three cities: — New York, Los Angeles and Kansas City. The Midwestern stop was meaningful to Kansas Citians, as it’s located in the singer’s home state of Missouri.
The city went all out for her arrival, lighting up many of its downtown buildings in pink, à la “Pink Pony Club,” painting a mural of the “Midwest Princess” across from 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 in a special “Pink Pony Express” wrap to mark the occasion.
Roan performed to a sold-out crowd of 30,000 both nights on the lawn of the National WWI Museum and Memorial. She featured local drag performers, including Karmella Uchawi and Minti Varieties, as openers for the shows, as well as musical acts Japanese Breakfast and Baby Tate. Roan’s decision to include the city in the tour was significant to many queer Midwesterners, and LGBTQ+ pride was on display in makeup, signs and costumes throughout the weekend.
During the show, the singer spoke about how she knows it can be hard growing up queer in the Midwest, and that with all that’s going on in the world, bringing the queer community joy is the most important thing to her at the moment. She said seeing how her home state showed up for her over the weekend was meaningful to her, and that it affirmed that she was doing exactly what she was meant to be doing.
Katie Currid is a photographer based in Kansas City. Find more of her work online at KatieCurridPhoto.com and on Instagram, at @katiecurrid.
Mixed reactions, including relief, greet news the Coast Guard is buying BSC campus
The U.S. Coast Guard will take possession of the 192-acre campus in the northeast corner of Birmingham’s Bush Hills Neighborhood and will begin work to refit it as a training center for officers and enlisted personnel.
Travel industry pushes Congress to end DHS shutdown and pay federal security workers
With the busy spring break travel season looming, travel and aviation industry leaders urged Congress to end the stalemate over DHS funding before workers at TSA and ports miss a full paycheck.
Trump fires Kristi Noem as DHS chief, names Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her
President Trump has fired his homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and said Markwayne Mullin, a senator from Oklahoma, would replace her.
They were led off course in a big race. But a fix is more complicated than prize money
Top finishers in the Atlanta half marathon are calling for U.S. track officials to ensure that Jess McClain and two other athletes aren't excluded from the world championships because of an error.
No matter what happens at the Oscars, Delroy Lindo embraces ‘the joy of this moment’
Lindo is nominated for best supporting actor for his role in Sinners. At the BAFTA awards on Sunday, Lindo was presenting when a man with Tourette syndrome in the audience yelled out a racial slur.
Between Megan Moroney and Ella Langley, country women rule the charts
It's a big week for women in country music — and, it turns out, for women whose songs are favored by women in figure skating.
