Folk Heaven - Noah Kahan Live Review

Were my hopes high? Absolutely. Since 2018, I have been a fan of Noah Kahan, and although it breaks my heart to say, I knew I wouldn't be hearing Anyway live. That didn't matter though - since his insane drop a year ago of Stick Season, his album, and several drops throughout the year of deluxe additions, renditions and features such as Lizzy McAlpine and Post Malone, I knew that after such an insanely beautiful release that this gig was going to be gorgeous.

What struck me first and foremost, was his natural-ness on stage; not as a performer, as a person. I think it's the first time I've seen an artist actually get down from the stage and high five every single person they could reach; he literally went back and forth several times. He cracked, albeit, self deprecating jokes, such as losing a grammy nomination only the other month, and yet continued to share how much he loved everyone in that room. It was particularly emotional as you could truly feel the words he were saying were genuine.

Thankfully, for us, his fans, he sounds identical as he does in his recordings. That doesn't mean he didn't have voice cracks; he did, and he even went as far to acknowledge it with 'Alicia Keys man, what a woman, it's so hard to reach those notes'. I've seen many grateful artists in my life, I've seen artists cry on stage from being overwhelmed with love, and truthfully it never really gets old. A reminder that humanity somewhat still exists out there, somewhere, in the cracks. As I watched Noah, I watched someone try to grasp how their life had come to this.

One thing I would have LOVED for Noah to shake up a bit, was his setlist. It began with ALL the bangers, ended strangely (with no encore I believe), and lay flat in the middle with all the sad songs. It may seem strange to some to do a sad song, happy song, sad song, but that journey, that rollercoaster, that ride... that's part of the experience.

As much as I very clearly adore Noah, it's clear from my point of view, as someone who has been professionally reviewing gigs for years now, that Noah is going to grow a lot. Considering his gigs are already lively, emotional, and meaningful, just means that however he does grow... it will be amazing. I believe he will learn how to command a stage more than he already does and I HOPE (get it... pun... Noah Kahan lyric... okay) his set design / set designer improves.

Ultimately, I adored seeing Noah live. He was magical. I don't usually see artists again and again but I would go see Noah in five years time purely to prove my point, that he would have grown immensely as a performer. It meant a lot to see an artist that truly speaks on depression and other mental health issues so ruthlessly, for the better, that I've adored for over six years now. I highly recommend going to Noah Kahan's tour if you haven't already, it's a lovely experience.