Grammy-nominated folk-pop artist Noah Kahan treated North East fans to a mesmerising show last weekend in a show he described as one of his “favourites” from his tour thus far.
The Vermont-born artist took to Newcastle’s City Hall last night (November 12) as part of his Stick Season (We’ll all be here forever) Tour.
Kahan has recently received global recognition for his chart-topping 2022 track Stick Season which has recently gone viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.
However, the 26-year-old’s latest accolade is a Grammy nomination in the best new artist category alongside fellow acts Ice Spice and Gracie Abrams.
Ahead of the evening, fans snaked around the hall of the sold-out performance and braved the cold, eventually packing out the hall and balcony.
Opening the show was Boston trio Tiny Habits, who took to the stage in awe exclaiming “there are so many people here”, as the crowd cheered them on.
First performing the track Tiny Things, the bands’ melodic harmonies were exquisite and almost angelic – a beautiful opener to the evening.
Towards the end of their set, they performed a cover of Landslide by Fleetwood Mac as well as Somewhere Only We Know which ended with the crowd in song much to the delight of Tiny Habits.
Kahan made his appearance just after 9pm, bursting onto to stage with an energetic performance of his recent release Northern Attitude, excitedly hyping up the crowd for what was set to be a memorable evening.
“Scam Fender”, “Folk Malone” and “the Jewish Ed Sheeran” were just a few of the names he called himself in his opening speech, jokingly assuring attendees he “came from Vermont to make (them) sad”.
The rest of the set included tracks She Calls Me Back, New Perspective, Orange Juice and Dial Drunk where Kahan effortlessly transitioned between guitars and from acoustic to more upbeat tracks whilst still holding the audience in the palm of his hand.
Fans were also treated to a performance of Forever, a brand-new track.
Whilst Kahan undeniably deals with very personal and often private themes including divorce, alcoholism, death and therapy, his Newcastle show is nothing but proof he has a talent to make a crowd sing along to some highly traumatic lyrics.
To hear hundreds of people loudly scream lyrics including “so I took my medication, and I poured my trauma out” during a highly charged performance of Growing Sideways was awe-inspiring.
To be able to essentially conduct and lead people in singing some of the most gut-wrenching, painful, and emotional lyrics I have ever heard is a feat many artists attempt to but cannot reach.
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Often, you could barely hear Kahan at the microphone but instead, hear the crowd themselves joyously leading the show almost screaming the words back, feeling each syllable and note and relating it back to their own lives.
The show was “one of the loudest in Europe” according to Kahan who ended the night with a performance of homesick with the visuals relating back to his New England home town.
To be able to watch Noah perform was not only a treat but a beautiful thing to witness – the joy he clearly brings to his loyal band of fans through his devastatingly poetic storytelling is an emotion artists dream of creating.
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