“I am deserving of something real, something true, some day soon.”
These are the opening lyrics to the song “Chuck’s Mantra” on ROLE MODEL’s most recent album, “Chuck Timely and the Hourglass.” ROLE MODEL, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, opened his San Diego concert at the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater on Oct. 13 with this song playing as a pre-recorded track as he and his band set up the stage.
The stage had a simple set up to it, with chalk inscriptions on the floorboards saying “PIANO MAN,” “GUITAR GUY” and “DRUM GOD” along with arrows pointing to the band members who claimed these titles. Pillsbury stood at the front of the stage with an arrow on the floorboard pointing to him saying “CHUCK,” deeming himself with the persona of “Chuck Timely” in his most recent album.
“Chuck’s Mantra” being the opening song of the concert articulates the story Pillsbury set to perform on stage. The theme of his album is finding love in places you wouldn’t have expected, as well as thinking you found love when, in reality, you were just short of it. The band kicked into full gear with “Song is All You Get,” with Pillsbury showing off his raw vocals in real time.
The crowd at this SDSU concert showed enthusiasm and energy as he sang and danced around the stage. The audience wore hot pink and yellow outfits, paying homage to the colors and theming of his album and tour promotion. During his song “Chasing Midnight,” fans surprised Pillsbury by shining their flashlights through pink or yellow pieces of paper based on their section at the theater.
“We got stars in here tonight,” Pillsbury said as he smiled at the colored lights. “That’s the first time I’ve seen the stars in California.”
Pillsbury sang some unpredicted songs for the fans at this show. His song “Slipfast” from his previous album “Kansas Anymore” got the audience screaming and singing along, as well as the full version of “Old Recliners” from the same album. However, he did cut his recent song “Honeydew” from the setlist, and his 2023 single, “A Little More Time.” These two songs have been skipped on his latest tours, with fans posting on TikTok and Instagram wishing Pillsbury would put the songs back.
In his song “Love I You” from his most recent album, Pillsbury has a monologue with actress and former girlfriend, Dakota Johnson. When he performs this song on tour, he sings his part of the song to fans up on the barricade, and then chooses one or two fans to sing Johnson’s part. This replaces the previous stage-invite tradition that Pillsbury used to do on his previous “No Place Like Tour” concerts for “Kansas Anymore,” which ended in April 2025. During his song “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” Pillsbury would invite a fan on stage to be his “Sally” and they would dance on stage while he and the crowd would sing along. Now, he sings the song, but no longer continues the stage-invite tradition.
During the performance of one of his most popular songs, “Some Protector,” he told the San Diego audience that this is the part of the concert where he lets them sing the bridge of the song for him. Almost no phones were in sight as audience members linked arms, head-banged and sang the bridge, which opens with the lyrics “Am I guilty? Am I sorry? Did I miss you at the party?”
Pillsbury proved himself to be an energetic and engaging performer, constantly keeping the energy in each song and formatting the setlist to flow nicely. His last song on the album and the concert “Harmony,” talks about finding peace and allowing yourself to be loved again. Pillsbury let the audience sing the second to last chorus, in which he raised up the microphone and nodded his head smiling. The audience sang:
“Whatever kept me awake last night / Is finally giving me one night free / Play a song that’ll dry my eyes / Settle into some harmony / Whatever’s keeping you by my side / I’ll do whatever to let that be / In harmony.”
Pillsbury bowed, blew kisses at the audience members and walked off the stage with the same smile he held the whole night.
At his Los Angeles show on Oct. 15, Pillsbury sang to the crowd his opening monologue and referenced his show in San Diego.
“We did San Diego two nights ago,” he said. “And that was my favorite show so far. So you got some competition.”
Grace Chaves 
Abby Pickett