Last week, I was lucky enough to go to the Noah Khan concert in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Believe it or not, at my ripe old age of 22, I haven’t been to many large, mainstream concerts. Thanks to my wonderful friend, we were both able to get decent seats for under $70 (we love presale codes), and I had a great time. I got introduced to Noah Khan around this time last year, when his album Stick Season came out, and I’ve loved his music since. It made the hour-long drive to a concert on a Tuesday worth it in my opinion.
We skipped out on the merch because the line was aggressively long, but there was a surprising amount of variety in the food and drink options. There was everything from your classic concert food, to donuts, to seafood, to a grilled cheese bar. I personally stuck with the donuts because they weren’t that expensive. There were also multiple cider and beer pop-ups, and they had my favorite, a.k.a. free samples. The opener was a guy that I didn’t recognize named Ruston Kelly. He and his band cemented themselves as a favorite when they sang Taylor Swift’s All Too Well (10 Minute Version). The young teen girls sitting behind us definitely had a fun time with that one. For reference, this band was full of rockers with tattoos, so it was definitely an experience.
As for the man himself, Noah Khan is a great live performer. The concert was mainly full of songs from the Stick Season Deluxe album, but he did include some older songs as well, including “Maine,” which is one of my personal favorites. He also engaged with the audience quite a bit in between songs, whether it was high-fiving people in the pit, introducing the band, or just talking, bringing forth those relatable, slightly mentally-ill experiences that make him and his music so popular with people our age. One notable experience was that there was a guy in our row dressed in a full-on colonial outfit. It took me until the song “Paul Revere” was played to get what that purpose was. There were a few TikToks about it, so if you saw one, I’m probably somewhere in the background :). “Stick Season” and “Homesick” were actually saved until the encore, like he was going to get away with not singing those songs at a New England concert. And if you saw me record myself screaming “I’m mean because I grew up in New England” as someone from Boston, no you didn’t.
Overall I think it was a great concert. If you enjoy Noah Khan’s music, I would definitely recommend seeing him live if you ever get the chance. I would absolutely see him again.