Noah Kahan is having a moment. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter has become a viral sensation with, oddly enough, a folk album. Stick Season, a somewhat niche term to the Northeast, has now become a household name due to the success of Kahan’s new song and now album titled ‘Stick Season.’ The album continues to be in the top ten albums in the United States. Along with the album announcement, Kahan released tour dates for his “Stick Season Tour,’ which sold out at every venue before the new album even came out.
Road Trip Playlists got to be there for Kahan’s sold-out show at New York City’s beautiful Pier 17 rooftop venue. The excitement in the crowd was palpable before Kahan even took the stage. Adam Melchor played a brilliant opening set despite essentially being in a 48-degree wind tunnel a top the outdoor venue. It’s a good thing that Kahan set a must-wear flannel legislation to his concerts, so that fans were able to brave the chilly October night. However, the atmosphere was still electric at Pier 17 minutes before Kahan took the stage.
Kahan’s band took the stage as a cinematic-toned backing track played, and his entrance was so electric, I can only compare it to a WWE-like entrance as his walk turned into a run from the side of the train to the microphone backed by the New York skyline leading into a dynamic performance of ‘False Confidence’ to kick off the show.
This is the fourth time I have seen Kahan live, and there was a clear evolution in confidence even from the last time I saw him at Sound on Sound Festival five weeks prior. There was an insane energy being sent from the crowd to Kahan, and he and his band only amplified it right back.
In each time I have seen Noah Kahan live going back to 2019 the performance has been terrific, but there was something elevated for the Stick Season tour. The sound coming from the stage is truly incredible. The band now features sounds from banjo, mandolin, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, and killer drum performances. It didn’t take long for the new instruments to be featured on stage, the second song in the set saw Kahan on mandolin as he sang ‘All My Love’ backed with guitar, banjo, bass, and drums.
Another noteworthy edition for this tour was the bands new guitarist, the 20-year-old Noah Levine, who tracked guitar on a song on the album only to be invited to and drop out of college for this tour. Rightfully so, his performance on guitar shined bright very early on. The third song of the set, ‘Everywhere, Everything,’ featured a stellar solo from Levine, which only continued throughout the night.
Kahan warned fans on Twitter that this tour is mostly new songs, but honestly I think the fans wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was wild to see fans know every word to songs that have only been out for less than two weeks at the time of the show. It proved just how much this ‘Stick Season’ album is resonating with fans and the quality of these songs. There isn’t a bad song on the entire album, and every one I was looking forward to hear live.
One of the new songs ‘New Perspective’ is a banger live and fans at the Pier 17 show got a treat because Kahan brought on his little brother Simon Kahan to sing it with him live. The song has a slow start, but the buildup leading up to “paper bags drift wherever the winds blow” leading into the chorus is magic live. Seeing the Kahan brother perform it live was extra special and also wholesome with the two dancing and singing together on stage. It was a cool moment to see the memory made and the stage shared.
The best part of this show is seeing and being able to hear an artist who is playing something that they are truly passionate about. You can feel the love that Kahan has for this new album when he plays it. He shared how he always wanted to make a folk record and Stick Season is the chance to see his dreams realized and in a crazy way. Fans are loving it and he is making new fans every day. Kahan talked about the journey to making this record and it being something he’s always wanted to do on an appearance on our own Road Trip Playlists Podcast.
I remember being able to feel Kahan’s excitement as we spoke on the podcast about this album that he is touring. Seeing the success of the release has been a incredible. The praise is deserved. Each song has so many layers whether it is the sound created with its instrumentation, Kahan’s vocals, or the songwriting and lyrics on the track. The album is a love letter to where he grew up in New England, but is being related to by people who have never been past the midwest and that is because of the lyrics of Kahan’s song. One of the songs that I love the writing on is ‘Growing Sideways,’ and before playing it on Thursday, Kahan encouraged the sold out crowd to go to therapy that it’s something we all need. The song has one of my favorite lyrics especially in relation to seeking therapy, ‘Cause everyone’s growing and everyone’s healthy, I’m terrified that I might never have met me, Oh, if my engine works perfect on empty.”
The setlist was excellent and each song flowed nicely into the next. He played and told stories behind ‘Come Over,’ he played ‘Maine’ and ‘Glue Myself Shut’ from his popular Cape Elizabeth EP. The night ended with a three song encore set of ‘Orange Juice,’ ‘Youngblood,’ and of course, ‘Stick Season.’
The album is as close to perfect as one can get and will be named one of our 2022 albums of the year, but seeing him live is perfect as well. Don’t miss your chance to see Noah Kahan on The Stick Season tour.
