Best of KC 2025: Pink Pony Club overruns Midtown for Chappell Roan weekend
Chappell Roan. // photo by Daniel Fuchs
Earlier this month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can take a peek at the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some local people, places, and things that we thought clearly won 2025. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November.
October’s spookiest event didn’t revolve around an outdated haunted house in the West Bottoms or a movie marathon at Screenland. Rather, the return of the Midwest Princess to her homeland made for the scariest spectacle of the year.
Chappell Roan, launching a limited Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things Tour (for basically just us), overtook WWI Memorial Park—and every other facet of the city. Across two nights, more than 60k people attended the dual gigs, while navigating the infrastructure and crosstown travel for a venue that rarely hosts any spectacle of this size. Drowning in a sea of pink, wigs, and cowboy hats, the most age-diverse crowd we’ve ever seen partied the night away. It’s a rare thing to catch a family of eight dancing with an absolutely obliterated set posse of drag queens, at least out in the normal world, but at the Pink Pony Club, the unrelenting party kept space for all invited.
Roan herself took command of a Maleficent-style Disney haunted castle set, backed by Don Bluth-style animation, and floored us with one of the best live voices we’ve ever heard—plowing through every track in her catalogue, along with a cover of “Barracuda” that’s destined to soundtrack movie trailers for years to come. Her band provided a heavy-metal flair to the pop anthems, almost taunting us with the talent on display.
But Roan’s event was much, much more than just the show itself. Pop-ups across the city made certain to highlight local businesses, creatives, and makers, with the princess putting all her power into guaranteeing that the scene from her origin story was backed, both in exposure and in financial boon. Multiple LGBTQ+-owned businesses and drag bars were part of the officially distributed weekend guide, and drag performers served as opening acts for both shows. Seeing local superstars get to push their personal Venmos for show tips, out to an all-ages sea of people, was the most “KC thing” that The Pitch has seen from a hometown hero in quite some time.
The planning and execution, on stage and off, was not just the definition of a Femininomenon but genuinely the standard by which future visiting superstars will be held. This wasn’t just a show; this was everything.
Click below to read the November Best Of 2025 Issue of The Pitch Magazine:
