Noah Kahan Stops in Nor Cal and the heat was on!
Noah Kahan sounds amazing...even at 110 degrees!
Apologies for the photos but the heat killed our gear and we went to backup tools...it was a gosh dang 100+ degrees at the show start folks!
Article by Music Fan Magazine Contributing Writer: Jessica Kingsford
If you’ve turned on the radio any time in the last six months you’ve likely heard Noah Kahan’s hit songs “Dial Drunk” and “Stick Season” on repeat. You might be humming along without even knowing who the chill dude behind the catchy tune is, or how he popped up out of seemingly nowhere and took center stage on a world tour.
Last week Noah’s fans flocked to Wheatland to hear his lyrical folk-pop in person, undeterred by a merciless heat wave and parking lot traffic backed up for miles. The scene had a spring break vibe - if spring temps could reach the swamp-ass epidemic levels of 110 degrees that we were dealing with. Looking around you might think Noah’s target demographic is college freshmen girls in cutoff jean shorts and cowboy boots.
It makes sense that Noah’s fan base is on the younger side when you realize he climbed the music career ladder by leveraging a series of viral YouTube and TikTok videos. His self-reflective, poetic songs about the beauty and boredom of small town living were just catchy enough to land him a Republic Records deal right out of high school, and since then he’s been releasing a string of Billboard topping songs that blend his guy-with-a-guitar musical influences like Jason Mraz with the furious banjo riffs of Mumford & Sons.
The crowd fanned themselves desperately as singer/songwriter Jensen McRae took the stage to open the show with a few moody tunes from her recent album “Are You Happy Now”. She delivered the intoxicating and somber “My Ego Dies at the End”, a song about leaving a brief “situationship” (which the young people I polled described as a relationship level somewhere between “talking” and “hanging out”), while the Gen Z crew outfitted themselves in Noah Kahan t shirts. Wait times for adult beverages were short or non-existent, but the queue for the water bottle refilling station rivaled a Disneyland ride.
Dusk settled in and the temps fell to a manageable 98 degrees as the lights dropped and the amphitheater went dark. The roar of excitement from the crowd was rewarded as Noah burst on to the stage with his fast-paced hit song “Dial Drunk”. From the start it was obvious that this wasn't the same mellow Noah that’s been hitting my Spotify playlist on repeat. A bass drum beat so heavy I could feel it in my teeth was matched by the furious strumming of banjo and rock fiddle as Noah sang the song that propelled him up the billboard charts in 2022.
He continued with a string of melancholy songs about relationships and losing your identity in his Northeastern country style that may not always hit on the first listen, but definitely catch on when you’ve heard a time or two. His stage aesthetic had just enough visual interest without being busy, it looked to me like a deconstructed Appalachian mountain range at sunset. Noah and his four bandmates brought their energy to the stage without being too bouncy, because really, who could dance around under the stage lights in this heat?
Then the band settled down into chairs in front of a row of large family portraits and a vintage sofa set to invoke the feeling of Noah’s family living room. They bluegrassed their way through mellow, acoustic versions of self-deprecating tunes “Come Over” and “Godlight” before bringing the energy back for “All My Love”, a relatable song about being the child of divorce.
Noah writes a lot of music about his experience with anxiety and mental health, and he sings it an octave or two higher than you might expect in his unique and distinctly higher pitched voice. Songs like “False Confidence” are a vulnerable look at his internal battle with imposter syndrome and societal expectations, while he’s claimed “Your Needs, My Needs” is about the stigma of using antidepressants.
Being relatable seems to be Noah Kahan’s great superpower. That and epic song writing, of course.
Near the end of the show, Noah stepped out alone on a platform to have a heart to heart with his adoring fans and perform solo for “Growing Sideways” and “Strawberry Wine” before rejoining his band for crowd pleasers like “Call Your Mom” and a personal favorite, “Northern Attitude”.
At the end of the set the crew didn’t make the crowd wait long before returning for a quick encore that culminated with “Stick Season”, his title track for his Grammy-nominated album and arguably the song that’s got you humming along, probably singing the wrong lyrics, and buying tickets for an outdoor concert on a July night that has absolutely no business being quite so freaking warm.
Did I mention it was hot?
Smoke Meter : Zero, not even back on the lawn. I think we were all afraid to light up and ignite a wildfire.
Fight Meter : Also none. The crowd was saving all their energy for waving their complimentary Hard Rock hand fans.
Sing Along Meter : Pretty dang high. With songs this catchy it’s easy to join in, and these kids knew all the right words.