BROOKLYN, N.Y. − Sabrina Carpenter. Harry Styles. Niall Horan. Taylor Swift.
Those are just some of the names Role Model − the bedroom pop-turned-folksy artist born Tucker Pillsbury − likes to call himself, even signing his setlists with their signatures. His satirical approach to fame could be seen as desperate or forced, but at Brooklyn Paramount on Saturday night, every fan was in on his bit − and encouraging it. In New York, he was Ed Sheeran, Tate McRae and Maroon 5.
The cowboy hat-wearing crooner, who opened for Gracie Abrams on the U.S. leg of her The Secret of Us tour last fall, was once synonymous with any other aspiring indie artist in Los Angeles. But he axed the synths found on his debut album “Rx” and learned guitar for his second collection, “Kansas Anymore,” dipping into a genre repopularized and transformed by rising indie folk stars such as Noah Kahan and his frequent collaborator Lizzy McAlpine.
Role Model, 27, wrote his first album about falling in love (with YouTube personality Emma Chamberlain), and “Kansas Anymore” documented his grief following the dissolution of that relationship. There’s a newfound maturity in the heartache and homesickness conveyed in this story-driven work.
“ ‘Kansas Anymore’ is very much about heartbreak, but I didn’t want to write about that in a nasty, immature, angry sort of way,” he told MTV last August.
Role Model brings No Place Like tour to Brooklyn
Heartbreak has never felt as good as it does at a Role Model show − there’s something healing in hearing nearly 3,000 people sing together, “I don’t think you love me anymore / And I don’t think I love you anymore / But I don’t think I’ll ever be so sure.”
Smiling through the pain is not only allowed but celebrated at his live performances.
Throughout the venue, concertgoers anxiously awaited Role Model’s set. Along the barricade, diehard fans − some as young as 14 − had been waiting since 5 a.m. to secure a front-row spot. When he finally walked onstage and the opening riffs of “Writing’s On the Wall” played, the crowd erupted into full-fledged screams before singing every word.
He played 15 songs off the new album, including deluxe tracks − but none from “Rx.” Instead, he filled spaces with an original cover of The 1975’s “Somebody Else,” and two tracks from his early EPs (“that’s just how it goes” and “blind”).
After losing his hard-fought campaign for People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2024, Role Model is now gunning for a Calvin Klein campaign. But as the night went on, he kept apologizing for losing his voice.
“Hey, Calvin Klein, I’m usually singing and doing all these Ariana Grande runs. I promise I’m better,” he joked. “But you know what, not tonight,” dubbing the evening “the Temu Role Model show.”
Role Model and his fans’ love affair
Witnessing Role Model work a crowd, it’s undeniable that he loves his fans. He jokes in unison with them − simultaneously teasing and uplifting each other − and has already built a collection of sassy inside jokes around this current album cycle. With so many boy bands denouncing fangirls (the infamous 5 Seconds of Summer “Rolling Stone” cover), seeing a male artist wholesomely welcome their affection is refreshing.
Midway through “Compromise,” the last slow song of the evening, he took a moment to thank those in the crowd.
“I know I make a lot of jokes, so I’ll be serious for one second,” he said. “I know what it takes to come to concerts. I know some of you wait all day long … some of you drive here or fly here (or) take the train … some of you skip work and you skip school. Whatever you’re missing out on to be here does not go unnoticed and I genuinely love you for doing it.”
Who was Role Model’s ‘Sally’ at his Brooklyn show?
For the second to last song of the night, “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” one lucky fan gets to be Role Model’s “Sally” for the night. Akin to Justin Bieber’s “One Less Lonely Girl” gimmick, a fan gets plucked from the crowd to dance onstage with Role Model. Past Sallys also include singer-songwriter Ashe, influencer Jake Shane and podcaster Grace O’Malley.
On Saturday, another fan joined Role Model onstage for a “diva-off.” The crowd cheered for the pair as they danced around the stage and screamed the lyrics, “Heard through the grapevine she can be a diva / Cold like Minnesota / Hotter than a fever.”
Role Model began to saunter off-stage before realizing he had “forgotten something,” and jumped into the lead single off “Kansas Anymore” and last song of Saturday night’s set, an upbeat track called “Deeply Still in Love.”
What better way to end the night right back where Role Model started, screaming: “I’m sorry but I’m deeply still in love with you.”
Role Model setlist for the No Place Like Home tour
- “Writing’s on the Wall”
- “Look at That Woman”
- “Scumbag”
- “Oh, Gemini”
- “Superglue”
- “The Dinner”
- “Frances”
- “Slut Era Interlude”
- “Somebody Else” (The 1975 cover)
- “The Longest Goodbye”
- “Old Recliners”
- “Slipfast”
- “that’s just how it goes”
- “Some Protector”
- “Compromise”
- “blind”
- “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out”
- “Deeply Still in Love”
Leave a Reply