Back in 2022, Chappell Roan walked into Amy Ordman and Jess Panneton‘s new party.
“She came to our second night,” said Ordman, the co-founder of the roving sapphic nightclub Futch, now at El Cid in Silver Lake. Even before Roan was one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, her reputation in underground queer nightlife was ascendant.
“I came up to her and told her I loved ‘Pink Pony Club,’” Ordman recalled, still a little agog to get that vouch so early in Futch’s existence. “Whenever a song of hers comes on at our party, people start screaming, they’re jumping onstage. That feeling of tangibly belonging to a community is what Futch was born out of.”
This weekend, Roan will take to a much bigger stage for two sold-out nights at Brookside at the Rose Bowl, a tree-canopied Pasadena park normally used to hold full festivals of dozens of artists. The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s return to L.A. will wrap up a brief North American tour where the venues finally felt appropriate to her stature as one of the breakout pop acts of the decade.
On Friday, Futch is counting on a whole lot of Roan fans to keep the party going at its own event at El Cid after the show. For sapphic and queer nightlife in L.A., these shows are a rejuvenating occasion to get dolled up despite a brutal political moment and generally bleak mood for going out in L.A.
“It’s such a tense time, and we need spaces like Futch and Chappell Roan at the Rose Bowl to celebrate queerness, and to be around other people who understand what we’re going through,” Ordman said. “When I was looking for that but didn’t know where to go, our party was born out of that feeling. Chappell’s singing about experiences that really only our community can deeply understand.”
The sapphic nightlife scene in L.A. had been on a generational comeback, with new clubs like East Hollywood’s Honey’s at Star Love, parties like Hot Flash, Lez Croix and Personal Best and cultural events like poetry night Verse4Verse arriving to meet the demand for new spaces and scenes.
Yet in January, Ruby Fruit, the vaunted Silver Lake bar that became a national trendsetter, closed unexpectedly, citing the economic impacts of the wildfires. They eventually reopened, but a broad sense of malaise — economic, political and disaster-driven — has contributed to dozens of bars, clubs and restaurants closing across the city. Recently, the popular mobile queer party Gay Asstrology went on hiatus as well.
Roan is probably the biggest and most vocally queer woman in pop music now. Her sweep through town on her “Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things” tour could do for these clubs what Oasis’ reunion did for British rock fans in L.A. — galvanize them back out into supporting a music and nightlife scene under a lot of stress.
“It’s a really interesting time in nightlife now, where people are afraid to spend money and jobs are hard to come by,” said Mo Faulk of Honey’s at Star Love. “This is an opportunity to get out of your head and forget about everything else for a second, to be around people who are all there for the same reason.”
Faulk’s club is throwing its own Chappell-themed event on Saturday, which was “an easy decision,” as Faulk said. “Why would anyone say no to Chappell? Our DJs are friends of hers, her community is wrapped up in our community. It’s just going to be a celebratory nigh for queers to leave fulfilled and joyful.”
Roan played Coachella last year, won the Grammy for new artist and released a couple of singles this year — the country stomper “The Giver” and misty pop ballad “The Subway.” A follow-up to 2023’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” still seems a ways off though, so sapphic nightlife is racing to tap into Chappell’s return to L.A.
If you’re truly committed to marking Chappell-mania this week, you can get custom tattoos done at the cultural space Junior High in Glendale on Friday (“Ink your devotion to the living gay icon,” as they put it). At the Echoplex on Thursday, the national pop-tribute party Stan Society will host an official warm-up event, with proceeds going to trans youth nonprofits (a sector in dire need at the moment, with attacks coming hard from the federal government).
“Our community is looking for safe, welcoming spaces where they can celebrate their favorite music and feel fully seen,” said Michael Weber, who, with Jeffery Lyman, runs Stan Society. “The audiences for these events have grown and deepened over the past few years as fans crave real, in-person connection.”
For younger fans fending off despair by dipping into L.A.’s queer nightlife scene, the Rose Bowl shows (which coincide with National Coming Out Day) will be an exuberant entry point. Hopefully many will take the occasion to explore the culture deeper here.
“Chappell has done so much for our community, especially for younger kids. Owning who you are is exciting, but sometimes it can seem overwhelming, especially if you’re not exposed to a safe entry point,” Faulk said. “Honey’s is a really great starting place for that; it’s been a springboard for younger artists to come explore and try new things like what Chappell’s done.”
For promoters, Chappell’s global popularity (alongside a sapphic pop wave of acts like Doechii, Reneé Rapp and others) has been a cue to try to grow their scene locally and abroad. Futch has been touring internationally, with recent gigs in the U.K. and Canada. Ordman isn’t anticipating a return visit from Roan this weekend at Futch. (Can you imagine the absolute melee at the door?)
But knowing that thousands of fans will be looking to keep the party going after the Rose Bowl show, who knows if the next Chappell Roan will be striding through El Cid on Friday.
“It’s incredible to see sapphic artists break through and dominate on a level never seen before,” Ordman said. “Under an administration that targets minorities, we need joyful places like this to celebrate in active resistance. And when a couple comes up to me at Futch and says they met there, it’s magical.”
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