“I just wish I could stay up here forever, because I’m gonna remember it for the rest of my life.”
Noah Kahan’s two-night residency at Fenway Park last week may have been the hardest ticket to get for a concert this summer. There’s only so many times you can get the “Required Information Missing” popup from the MLB website before you go just a tiny bit crazy. I somehow did manage to score two tickets to Kahan’s Madison Square Garden debut earlier last week after a nearly seven-hour wait in the 90 degree heat outside the box office, and I could write an entire separate article about how incredible that show was, but let’s just talk about Boston for now. When I’d run out of hope, myself and some other local writers were asked around 2pm on Thursday if we’d be able to make it out to Fenway that night to review the show, and I don’t think I’ve ever replied to an email more quickly.
The 27-year-old from Strafford, VT has amassed quite a following over the past few years largely due to his strong social media presence. The viral “I’m mean because I grew up in New England” line from “Homesick” made the rounds on TikTok a year or two ago, and Kahan himself will post the occasional video promoting new music or showcasing some behind the scenes of the tour from his perspective. He’s played the whole slew of Boston venues, from Brighton Music Hall (as the incorrectly billed “Nathan Kahan”), Paradise Rock Club, House of Blues, MGM Music Hall, Xfinity Center, to now a sold out Fenway Park filled with nearly 40,000 of his fans. And don’t forget his mid-day slot at Boston Calling over a year ago where he seemed to draw a crowd of nearly the same size.
Upon arriving at the stadium, fans would find customized Noah Kahan Fenway Park “We’ll All Be Here Forever Tour” light-up wristbands at their seats waiting for them – another thoughtful touch for the shows that will likely go down in history as some of Kahan’s greatest ever. Merch lines inside and outside the venue were long, as fans each wanted to take a piece of the night home with them. Openers for the night included James Bay and Mt. Joy, both of whom played incredible sets to kick off the evening. At the time of the show, Kahan and Bay were just about to release their collaborative single the following day (alongside The Lumineers): “Up All Night.”
As his band played some intro music, Kahan made his way all the way around the back of the floor past the dugouts before making it to the stage. The opening notes of “Dial Drunk” began playing as Kahan looked out into the audience to take in the packed stadium in front of him, grinning and seemingly shaking his head in disbelief that all these people had shown up for him. “New Perspective” followed as the second song, and “Everywhere, Everything” as the third, halfway through which singer Gracie Abrams made a guest appearance to sing a verse, amassing quite the excited reaction from fans.
More highlights from the first part of the set included an acoustic version of “Godlight” (one of Kahan’s personal favorite songs he’s written), the incredibly powerful bridge of “Your Needs, My Needs,” a performance of the unreleased “The Great Divide,” “You’re Gonna Go Far,” which was dedicated to anyone who had come to the show alone, and, of course, “Homesick.”
Following “Homesick” is when Kahan would typically make his way to the back of the arena to the B-Stage for some more acoustic songs. However, fans may have noticed there was seemingly no B-Stage set up at the back, and Kahan chose instead to perform on top of the Green Monster (the 37-foot high left field wall with no guardrail). “I’m up on the f—ing Green Monster, and I can barely breathe,” Kahan remarked, following it up with “If I fall make sure to get a slow-mo version of it, it will go viral.” Despite the jokes, however, Kahan also took the time to once again thank his fans for allowing him to get to this moment. Kahan first performed “Growing Sideways” before introducing his second special guest of the night and one of his early inspirations: The Lumineers. The trio performed a lovely acoustic rendition of “If We Were Vampires” by Jason Isbell.
Back on the main stage, Kahan and his band played a few more songs before the encore. They started off with “She Calls Me Back” and “No Complaints” before transitioning into the emotionally heavy “Orange Juice.” Looking out into the lights of the crowd, Kahan appeared to get a little choked up during the ending part of the song, and you could see his visible “I made it” moment as fans helped finish the song with him. Quite frankly, I don’t know how any New Englander could have held it together as long as he did performing a sold-out show at a venue so iconic to those who grew up here, and I doubt there were many dry eyes in the crowd afterwards as Kahan once again thanked all of the people on stage with him for helping him make it this far. He also lightheartedly apologized for his not so great first pitch at the Red Sox game earlier this year, bringing the mood up a little bit.
“Northern Attitude” closed out the main set, bringing with it some type of fake snow-like substance that was dumped onto the stage, a fitting prop for a song with the lyric “Forgive my northern attitude / Oh, I was raised out in the cold.” After a brief exit from the stage, Kahan returned to perform “Mess,” during which he sings about taking “89 to Boston,” something which a percentage of those in attendance could probably relate to doing that very evening. After that was my personal favorite song of the night, “The View Between Villages.” This is another powerful song to see live, especially the extended version that Kahan has been playing on this leg of tour.
Closing out the night was of course a performance of “Stick Season.” Keeping with the trend of bringing out special guests for this song (he’d previously brought out James Bay and Remi Wolf in New York), Kahan decided to just have everyone join him on stage and performed the song with James Bay, Gracie Abrams, The Lumineers, and Mt. Joy all up there with him. Leaf-shaped confetti filled the stadium the best it could, and fireworks could be seen going off above the Green Monster immediately following the end of the set. In true Boston fashion, fans would walk out of Fenway to the tune of “Sweet Caroline” into the packed streets and off to continue the night at the bars on Lansdowne St.
Noah Kahan is taking a well-deserved break after touring for nearly two years promoting Stick Season, but we’re sure we’ll see him in Boston (and Fenway) hopefully in the not too distant future.
