Chappell Roan’s 75-Minute Shrine Set and Christina Aguilera Duet

By Grace Kim

Chappell Roan played a 75-minute set at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on Wednesday, opening the first of two “The Super Graphic Spectacular” benefits for her LGBTQIA+ charity, the Midwest Princess Project. Christina Aguilera joined her for “Coffee,” then received a solo spotlight for “Beautiful.”

Variety’s review called “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” “the best pop debut of the 2020s.” The pairing gave “Coffee” its full due, the reviewer wrote, having earlier treated the ballad as a sleeper and a quiet instant classic. Roan had had plenty of chances to choose another vocal partner, and the review saw significance in her saving the slot for a heroine.

Aguilera, whom the review described as one of the most celebrated ballad singers of the generation immediately before Roan, matched her on the duet. The two singers, the review said, dialed down a song about the threat of romantic escalation and made it the night’s biggest statement. The review also considered Aguilera’s long-standing LGBTQIA+ support a good fit for the charity.

The Midwest Princess Project supports LGBTQIA+ organizations across the country, with a stated emphasis on resources for trans youth. Roan’s first show offered several brief opening acts and a preceding outdoor street fair, which the review described as damp.

What does the benefit format change?

For audiences, it changes the pacing and framing more than the headline set. The review found that Roan’s “spectacular” additions, including Tinashe and Lola Young guest slots, left the evening close to a conventional headlining show. It read the charitable bill as a way to build a more communal crowd around Roan, and appreciated that communal impulse.

A duet becomes a solo

After “Coffee,” Roan performed “Expectations,” her newly released recorded duet with Olivia Rodrigo, without Rodrigo. The review treated that decision as the night’s biggest surprise, or at least on a par with Aguilera’s arrival.

The song remains primarily Rodrigo’s, even though Roan wrote a new verse for the remix and video. Dan Nigiro served as their mutual collaborator, and the review credited that shared connection with the seamless fit. Roan placed it among the rockier selections from “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” and the review heard a joyful eruption from a crowd that had the joint recording stuck in its head all week.

Palatial styling, hard movement

Roan has recently set aside some of her harder, more regal imagery. She wrote on Instagram that she felt “cute,” and her look at Rodrigo’s recent Daisy Chain Fields festival departed sharply from that style. Wednesday’s production brought the grandeur back.

Heavy drapery and chandeliers filled the Shrine stage, and Roan’s corset-flavored gown extended the courtly look. The review’s practical note for costume design was blunt: even an ankle-length dress for Roan had to allow for high kicks.

Roan countered the formal styling with high kicks, solo choreography and the sustained high-octane demands of “Good Luck, Babe!” The review praised her vocal control and command of the stage, while calling her dancing the last major element of her craft that pop audiences still underrate.

Her work now looked far beyond the boot-led early touring days of “Midwest Princess,” when the emphasis was on the boots. Group choreography remained a comic exception: Roan briefly line-danced with her two guitarists during the country-flavored “The Giver.”

A catalog built like a greatest-hits list

Roan still fronted the thrashing, redhead-banging “Karma,” which the review called one of the decade’s best blissed-out, angry rock songs. She showed no fatigue during the audience-participation sections of “Hot to Go!” and closed with “Pink Pony Club.”

The 75 minutes felt like at least two hours, the review said, because a one-album catalog plus four superior non-album tracks made every number feel like a greatest hit. Few other artists could claim that, the review argued.

Her repertoire offered few true rarities; the closest was the pre-stardom single “Love Me Anyway,” which she performed less reliably. Roan confessed that she forgot the words once, and the review treated the slip as charming rather than damaging.

Five openers, 10:20 p.m. finish

The whole night ended at 10:20 p.m., probably one or two hours earlier than the bill suggested. No fewer than five opening acts were listed for each night, and everyone before Roan came and went quickly. Comedian Caleb Hearon, the host, announced at the outset that he planned to keep his stand-up short.

Roan’s all-female band took the stage at the top of the evening and served as the house band, or backing group, for everyone except the drag artists, who performed to tracks. The review found the group unusually adaptable, suggesting they could step in for a talk show or revue at short notice.

Brief opening sets

Lola Young and Tinashe were the main attractions before Roan, though their sets ran short. Tinashe played only two numbers from her acclaimed new album: “Nobody Wanna Dance Anymore” and “I’d Rather Be Alone.” Lola Young performed three, ending with “Messy.”

The review judged both sets shorter than audiences might have wanted, but fitting for a benefit, where timing was unpredictable. It likened them to appetizers rather than full meals, and pointed to fuller shows ahead:

• Lola Young: the Greek, May 4.
• Tinashe: the Palladium, Nov. 7.
• Tinashe: Shrine Expo Hall on the Shrine block, next May 15-16.

The review nonetheless found the night centered on Roan’s cult of personality, the audience devotion surrounding her as a performer. It considered that focus earned even with nothing else on her concert calendar.

Thursday’s second “Super Graphic Spectacular” at the Shrine brings a completely different bill, with Hearon returning as emcee:

• Caroline Polachek
• Muna
• Alisa Mae
• Fantasia Royale Gaga
• Sweaty Eddie

That bill now has to preserve the first night’s closeness without cutting short Roan’s headline set.