IF Jesus was my savior, Noah Kahan would give him a run for his money.
When people found out I was going to ACL Day 2, I was repeatedly asked who I was most excited to see; Foo Fighters or Shania Twain. My response was always, Noah Kahan. The Folk Malone came skipping out onto the T-Mobile stage with perfectly parted braids and started the set with ‘Northern Attitude.’
I saw Noah live earlier this year at Emo’s and I didn’t think his stage presence could get any better, but I was so very wrong it’s embarrassing honestly
When he wasn’t showing off how talented of a lyricist he is, Kahan was making a crowd of thousands continuously laugh at every one of his jokes.
Kahan has taken the music industry by STORM these past two years, after his single ‘Stick Season’ blew up everywhere.
In 2022, he announced he will be performing at Scoot Inn during his Stick Season Tour. Last month, he announced he will be coming back to Austin, playing the Moody Center.
(If you are not from Austin, I will break this down for you. Moody center has 14,000 more seats.)
During his ACL set Kahan stated, “I used to put my tickets on sale in Texas and then we’d have to cancel them because not enough people would buy them” as he was staring at a crowd that probably ran a million miles long.
About halfway through the set, his performance somehow managed to get even better. The legendary folk band, Mt. Joy, who played a few hours earlier at the American Express stage, came out to sing with Kahan. Watching two of my favorite artists sing an unreleased song called ‘Emily’ was not on my bucket list, it wasn’t even a possibility in my mind. Now that it’s been crossed off though, I am going to be the most obnoxious person ever. Beautiful performance, beautiful lyrics, beautiful song, once-in-a lifetime experience I did not take for granted. UT may have lost that day, but I did NOT!
Kahan managed to get intimate and open about his mental health issues while making his talent be heard. I genuinely don’t know how he does it, as I have never seen it before.
He makes you feel like he hacked your brain to write exactly what you’re going through.
The beauty of his voice has you dancing to the saddest, most soul-crushing lyrics that would have sent me to a spiral if I wasn’t too busy enjoying myself. If you are a Noah Kahan hater, you simply do not get him on the level I get him, and yeah you’re missing out but you probably don't have two Christmases and take 50 mg of Lexapro a day. So perceive that as you will.
Noah Kahan, the man that you are. If Mr. Kahan is ever performing in an area near you, GO! Just. Go. Do not miss out on this talented performer with his talented band and songwriting skills. Or just go to support an Austin-native, Noah (you read that right), his guitarist. While I was born and raised 80 miles west in the 210, I can’t help but feel a sense of genuine pride for this talented young man, who performed on a sold out tour before legally being allowed to drink. Support his music, band, and shows, it will be a life-changing experience you can never forget.
My top 5 Noah quotes from his weekend 1 performance:
“Aw that signs says spit in my mouth”
“This one’s for people with divorced parents, it might’ve been your fault, I don’t know.
“This next song is about dragging the people you love down and I think we should do that more often.”
“My folks still talk in these two word sentences, but we get two christmases”
“If there wasn’t enough white guys with a guitar on a stage, gonna add one more to the bunch”
“I see some children here and I just want to take a minute to speak directly to them. Listen kiddos, if you’re struggling and things are hard, and you have a friend at school or on the playground that’s happy and finding success. I want you to do me a favor, and drag that mother fucker right back down with you.”