{"id":7050129,"date":"2026-08-28T16:07:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T16:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/were-at-a-crisis-point-chappell-roan-shirley-manson-and-eli-on-playing-olivia-rodrigos-women-led-festival-olivia-rodrigo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T16:07:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T16:07:24","slug":"were-at-a-crisis-point-chappell-roan-shirley-manson-and-eli-on-playing-olivia-rodrigos-women-led-festival-olivia-rodrigo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7050129","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re at a crisis point\u2019: Chappell Roan, Shirley Manson and Eli on playing Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s women-led festival | Olivia Rodrigo"},"content":{"rendered":"


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W<\/span>hen I first saw the poster for Olivia Rodrigo<\/a>\u2019s inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in June, I assumed it was AI. Chappell Roan, Doechii, Mitski, the Breeders, Bikini Kill and Garbage, all arranged in a neat line \u2013 and this was before I got to the words \u201cspecial guests\u201d. Karen O, Sarah McLachlan. And, to top it all off, Stevie Nicks? No.<\/p>\n

I saw the post confirmed on Rodrigo\u2019s Instagram, and thought: how?<\/p>\n

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According to Shirley Manson<\/a>, the Garbage singer, Rodrigo called up every act one by one. \u201cI told her it was very unusual for an agent not to be doing that.\u201d Rodrigo isn\u2019t shy about her influences, and has gushed about Garbage\u2019s music as an inspiration for her own. \u201cAnd unlike many artists, she doesn\u2019t say she\u2019s inventing the wheel; she knows she\u2019s just a spoke within it,\u201d said Manson.<\/p>\n

Rodrigo has earned the regard of some of the world\u2019s most respected musicians partly for this reason: she had a feature with Robert Smith on her latest album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love<\/a>, and has duetted with the Smashing Pumpkins and Sheryl Crow. Which brings us to the lineup of the summer: a string of major coups assembled for Rodrigo\u2019s intergenerational celebration and first festival, Daisy Chain Fields. The one-day event will take place on 29 August at the Great Park in Irvine, California, bringing together an unusually broad assembly of women spanning Rodrigo\u2019s influences, both new and lifelong.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Shirley Manson of Garbage performs in Manchester in 2024.<\/span> Photograph: Shirlaine Forrest\/WireImage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is no competitive element or hierarchy among the acts: no two sets will overlap, and on the poster, every name appears in the same typeface and font size, no matter how established or fresh the act. \u201cIt creates a necessary and refreshing culture of community, setting up women\u2019s art to be received and valued in a less competitive and capitalist environment,\u201d said Eli<\/a>, the pop artist whose music answers the question: what if Ashlee Simpson, but camp?<\/p>\n

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Eli is one of the festival\u2019s most obviously new-generation additions, her name listed on the poster between Doechii and Garbage. Daisy Chain Fields is her first festival. Eli had no idea Rodrigo was a fan until Rodrigo called her herself on a video call. She was driving home from a writing session when Rodrigo FaceTimed her, forcing her to pull over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was almost like she was pitching it to me, and I was like: \u2018Girl, you could\u2019ve asked me to work the concessions for free and I would\u2019ve been there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On an equally sincere note, Eli said she was \u201ccompletely blown away by the heart of her efforts and inspired by the depths of her intentions to stand for something: women\u2019s rights and peace on Mother Nature\u2019s globe\u201d.<\/p>\n

One hundred per cent of Daisy Chain Fields\u2019 net proceeds will be distributed among organizations including Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, while reproductive-rights education and non-profit activations will be spotted throughout the festival site.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>The lineup for Daisy Chain Fields.<\/span> Photograph: Courtesy of Olivia Rodrigo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Daisy Chain Fields belongs to a lineage of women-led music festivals that have tried to raise money for female-focused causes while correcting a stubborn gender imbalance across festival lineups \u2013 one that has always existed, and still does. (A 2025 report<\/a> from Book More Women found that women accounted for just 21.6% of headliners across nine major music festivals.) In 1976, second-wave feminists and lesbian separatists founded the Michigan Womyn\u2019s Music Festival, which combined an all-women lineup with educational workshops and health services.<\/p>\n

But Rodrigo\u2019s most direct model for Daisy Chain is Sarah McLachlan\u2019s Lilith Fair<\/a>, the hugely successful touring festival McLachlan launched in 1997 as a showcase for women in music. McLachlan was the first person Rodrigo called when she began dreaming up Daisy Chain, and McLachlan is scheduled to perform both her own set and alongside Rodrigo during hers.<\/p>\n

Garbage, meanwhile, was invited to play Lilith Fair in the 90s and turned it down. Nearly three decades later, Manson sees a different urgency in Rodrigo\u2019s festival. \u201cI might have been naive, but it felt like there was more progress for women then,\u201d she explained of her decision to decline McLachlan\u2019s invitation. \u201cAnd here we are in 2026, as women\u2019s rights are regressing all over the world. We\u2019re at a crisis point.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Chappell Roan performing at the 2025 Grammy awards.<\/span> Photograph: John Shearer\/Getty Images for The Recording Academy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chappell Roan, who will perform right before Rodrigo\u2019s headlining set, is pursuing a similar idea from a different angle. In October, she will launch her inaugural two-night charity fundraiser, the Super Graphic Spectacular<\/a>, with 100% of net proceeds directed to LGBTQ+ community mutual-aid funds. With a slightly different focus, she answers the same question as Rodrigo: what can an artist do with the scale of a major live event besides selling tickets?<\/p>\n

Roan said she felt \u201chonored\u201d when Rodrigo asked her to play her own festival. \u201cBeing able to go see a show right now feels like such a privilege, and it\u2019s more important than ever for those shows to be safe spaces of inclusivity where fans can disconnect, even if only for a few hours, to have fun and just be together and feel joy,\u201d said Roan. She sees the charitable component as far more than an adjunct, but the main reason for doing it. \u201cBeing able to give back, especially to the people who have shown me so much support, is at the center of my project and what keeps me going,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eli, looking at what Rodrigo has assembled, sees something larger in it still. \u201cOlivia gives me hope that we can lead our generation and generations to come to a harmonious earth filled with strange girls and happy hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n