Wow.
I am a girl of many words, and yet I have none to describe the perfect, precious, amazing, fantastic night that was the Noah Kahan concert at American Airlines. As an OG fan, going from his House of Blues show to (sold-out!!) American Airlines was crazy. Noah acknowledged this, and it made me cry. So let’s hop in the car and take the long road as I break down this concert for you.
Spoilers Ahead!!!
First off, let’s talk about his opening act, Samia. I had never heard of her before, and at the end of her set, four of her songs were on my playlist. Her voice felt angelic yet so unique. I have never heard anything like it. She was a fun breath of air and felt like a compliment to Noah. Her songs were a mix of bittersweet feelings towards a lover (“Charm You”), a sob song about wanting to kill your ex’s new girl (“Kill Her Freak Out”), and a sweet song about the joys of life (“Honey”). She was having the time of her life onstage, and you should have heard the cheers when Noah Kahan came to join her for “Honey”. Their dancing was electric and had the entire stadium on its feet.
Before we get into Noah, I want to briefly discuss the venue. This was my first time at American Airlines, and I loved it. My friend and I were in the nosebleeds, and I still had a clear view of the stage. The arena feels intimate and yet holds 20,000 people in it. The acoustics were fantastic, and getting to and leaving the concert was easy.
Now for Noah. I don’t know where to start, so let’s begin with an overview. Noah is a hilarious person. He interacted with the audience before almost every song, whether joking that Zoloft was fun or having a profound and emotional moment with the audience about how meaningful a specific piece was to him. By the of the night, it felt like Noah and I were personal friends. His voice, dare I say, sounded better in the arena than on some of his records. I cried about four times and had the time of my life.
Noah starts out with “Northern Attitude”, and it feels like we were hopping into the car and starting out on the road trip of his life. It is fun and pop enough to have everyone dancing and singing. Next, he dove into “She Calls Me Back”, one of my favorite songs on the album. Screaming the unfinished phone number with my best friends is one of my favorite memories. After, I heard the speech that had been shared so much on TikTok with “New Perspective”, and let me tell you, hearing that speech live was absolutely hilarious. It was a 10 out of 10 moment.
“Everywhere, Everything” is my favorite Noah Kahan song, and seeing the most adorable couple in front of me made it all the much better. Noah’s vocals on this song were unparalleled. I have goosebumps just thinking about it.
After that, we went into a more laid-back section of the concert with “Your Needs and My Needs” and “Growing Sideways” – both played acoustically. It was a natural point in the show for a slow down of the songs and a very peaceful moment in the concert.
The highlight of the night was when we had an unreleased song which, when I looked it up online, seemed to be titled “Forever”. I sobbed during this entire song. It was one of Noah’s love songs, which I feel is more out of character for him and I loved it. It was stunning, and I want to play it at my wedding one day. Noah, please release this.
After, he played “False Confidence”. As someone who has been listening since 2019, this was a weirdly emotional song for me. I found myself thinking about the journey that I had gone through since this song came out and how baby Hadley would be so excited to know she was at a concert. “All My Love” (acoustic) was beautiful, and his voice on this song gave me goosebumps.
Then we went into the part of the night where I was convinced Noah Kahan wanted me to sob my eyes out. He played “You’re Going to Go Far”, “Orange Juice”, and “Call Your Mom” back to back to back. I’m convinced that Noah has no regard for my mental health. Scratch that; I’m confident he wants my mental health to spiral downward. Yelling the lyrics “The college freshman are getting so young lately,” really hits hard when you’re in college and far away from home. This set of songs was cathartic for me, and I don’t think I’ve ever ugly-cried that much.
Noah ended the concert with “Dial Drunk”, which was a fitting evening end. I consider it one of his best pieces of writing – I could do a whole essay about his verb tense in it alone – and it was a fun dancing song to end the night.
Just kidding! He came back out with an encore! He played “The View Between Villages” (not the extended version), “Stick Season” with Samia, and “Homesick.” “Homesick” was a surprising choice to end the concert, but it flowed well and was a surprisingly fun song to end the night.
Overall, this may have been the best night ever. I am so lucky to see one of my favorite artists live, and if you can get tickets for his concert next summer, do it!! You won’t regret it.