Stephen Thompson | March 21, 2024
It’s become a Tiny Desk tradition for artists to leave a small offering on the shelves — a tchotchke, a toy, a signed album or piece of swag, a guitar pick, that sort of thing. Usually, those pieces get absorbed into the visual din, but sometimes, they change the look of the Tiny Desk permanently. All of which is to say that when Chappell Roan finished her magnetic performance, we immediately sought her out to sheepishly ask if we could keep her wig.

Roan’s marvelous debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, came out last September — just in time to fit into the window of eligibility for the 2025 Grammys, hint hint wink — and it finds the singer toying confidently with a persona inspired in part by drag performers. Flanked by a pink-clad band, she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to serve up an absolute look, complete with white makeup and a towering wig (bolstered by a wadded-up trash bag tucked inside, as well as an assortment of stubbed-out cigarette butts), which now sits comfortably atop a skull Cypress Hill left us.

It’s only appropriate that Roan would forever alter the Tiny Desk. Because, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, this is a stunning set: Performing five songs from Midwest Princess, Roan worked through songs of youthful heartache (“Casual”), queer liberation (“Pink Pony Club”), mournful alienation (“California”) and two decidedly different forms of chaotic seduction (“Picture You,” “Red Wine Supernova”). In every mood and every song, she’s utterly commanding — witty and whip-smart, vocally assured and charismatic beyond words.

She didn’t just leave her wig; she left a mark.

SET LIST
“Casual”
“Pink Pony Club”
“Picture You”
“California”
“Red Wine Supernova”

MUSICIANS
Chappell Roan: lead vocals
Eliza Petrosyan: guitar
Lucy Ritter: drums
Valeria Falcon: bass
Sarah Hinez: keys
Danica Pinner: cello
Mia Pfirrman: vocals
Emily Lenck: violin

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Stephen Thompson
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Neil Tevault
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Zayrha Rodriguez
Audio Engineer: Carleigh Strange
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#tinydesk #nprmusic #chappellroan