{"id":31712,"date":"2025-08-29T22:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/31712\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T22:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:43:08","slug":"this-is-what-pop-perfection-looks-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/31712\/","title":{"rendered":"This is what pop perfection looks like"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chappell Roan emerges from the smoke, like Maleficent emerging from her lair.<\/p>\n

The stage is set like a Disney villain’s lair. Dressed in gothic velvet, her face is painted white, her signature drag-esque makeup, long red curls pinned back behind a black fascinator.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot overdramatic, I know what I want,\u201d she purrs before the opening of Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a single, but the crowd around me know every single word.<\/p>\n

As she makes her way from Femininomenon to After Midnight, the energy gets more incensed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ChappellChappell Roan is jumping around the stage, her clandestine opening outfit getting stripped to less, less, less.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t even say hello \u2014 we don\u2019t need any small talk. She\u2019s got us in the palm of her hand.<\/p>\n

On Naked in Manhattan, pop\u2019s most famous lesbian sings of first exploring same-sex attraction \u2014 \u201cCould go to hell, but we\u2019ll probably be fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Two girls in front of me sing the words to each other before kissing passionately. The crowd around them cheers\n <\/p>\n

Roan is jumping around the stage, her clandestine opening outfit getting stripped to less, less, less.<\/p>\n

On Guilty Pleasure she spins around, drops to her knees, and bends over backwards howling \u201cyou give me, guilty, guilty, guilty pleasure\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She kicks her black knee highs in the air, no move ever seeming to lead to as much a tremble in that all-powerful booming vocal.<\/p>\n

It looks like she\u2019s having as much \u2014 if not more \u2014 fun than those of us crying and sweating as we jump, dance, scream-sing.<\/p>\n

For HOT TO GO!, a track Roan for which created her own YMCA-style dance, it feels as though the 80,000 people attending this festival are here in the main arena with their hands over their heads following along. \u201cIreland always has it,\u201d she quips.<\/p>\n

The all-female band (it\u2019s a Femininomenon, get the memo?) match Roan\u2019s energy, at various times dancing and jump along with her.<\/p>\n

But there are also quiet moments, like on Coffee, where this heart-on-her-sleeve sapphic superstar leaves the crowd to sing a verse as she seems too choked up to continue.<\/p>\n

\n The bulk of Friday night<\/a>‘s all-hits, no-filler setlist comes from her one and only album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, but the two new singles, The Giver and Subway, don\u2019t leave us worried for what\u2019s in store.<\/p>\n

Sweat is pouring from every pore in this tight crowd, pink cowboy hats waving in the air, fans clacking as we come together in the final moments for Pink Pony Club.\n <\/p>\n

\" A fan records the performance of Chappell Roan performing on the main stage at Electric Picnic on Friday. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you wanted me to stay,\u201d the self-proclaimed Midwest Princess sings, \u201cbut I can’t ignore the crazy visions of me in LA\u2026\u201d And thank God she didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What we\u2019ve all witnessed on Friday night in Stradbally is a pop princess at the height of her powers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt she should have been headlining this festival \u2014 good luck to anyone trying to top this.<\/p>\n

Setlist:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl\u00a0<\/p>\n

Femininomenon\u00a0<\/p>\n

After Midnight\u00a0<\/p>\n

Naked in Manhattan<\/p>\n

Guilty Pleasure\u00a0<\/p>\n

Casual\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Subway\u00a0<\/p>\n

HOT TO GO!<\/p>\n

Barracuda (heart cover)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Picture You\u00a0<\/p>\n

Love Me Anyway\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Giver\u00a0<\/p>\n

Red Wine Supernova\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coffee\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good Luck, Babe!<\/p>\n

My Kink is Karma\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pink Pony Club<\/p>\n

Pink Pony Clubgoers<\/p>\n

\" A view of music fans enjoying Chappell Roan performing on the main stage at Electric Picnic on Friday. Picture: Larry Cummins\" Laois girls Louise McCarthy, Jessica O’Shaughnessy, and Amy Grady enjoying Chappell Roan performing on the main stage at Electric Picnic on Friday. Picture: Larry Cummins\" Young music fans Chloe O’Riordan, Millie Maye, Daniel Rogers, and Ella Murphy enjoying Chappell Roan performing on the main stage at Electric Picnic on Friday. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chappell Roan emerges from the smoke, like Maleficent emerging from her lair. The stage is set like a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[18,21182,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-31712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-electric-picnic-2025","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}