NOAH KAHAN PERFORMS HIS FIRST EVER UK ARENA SHOW AT GLASGOW’S OVO HYDRO IN FRONT OF 14,000 EAGER FANS.

★★★★★ (5/5)

NOAH KAHAN PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S OVO HYDRO
PHOTOCREDIT: KEVIN KERR

Returning to Glasgow to a considerably larger audience than his last visit, Noah Kahan lit up the Hydro stage. The 27-year-old singer from Vermont has rocketed to mainstream fame of late with ‘Stick Season’ breaking though the charts. Opening with ‘All My Love’, the crowd was electric, screaming every word. Kahan joked with the audience, ever self-depreciating, knowing his crowd well. A Noah Kahan concert is more like a journey of self-discovery than a performance, you feel like you are talking with a friend. He advised we should prepare ourselves for a pretty melancholy evening.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom! The more upbeat ‘Everywhere Everything’ quickly brought the tone up. A love song about worms and decomposing fingers as described by himself. The crowd sang along, screaming every word back at him, much to his amazement. Ever humble he remarked about how he cannot believe where he is now. Releasing his first album ‘Busyhead’ in 2019 he couldn’t have dreamed what was to come. In 2023 this sparked ‘The Busyhead Project’ – his initiative to raise money for organisations specialising in mental health support. He makes no secret of his own struggles, and this comes across clearly in his music

One number that was especially well received was ‘Northern Attitude’. If you give 14,000 Scots the opportunity to scream about long dark nights and cold winters they’re going to take it.

The energy rocked the Hydro, the atmosphere was hair raising.. Sheer talent oozes from this young artist, from his crystal-clear vocals to exposed raw lyricism, his music evokes such feelings of joy and sorrow from its listeners. Never have I experienced an audience so brought together by the emotions unearthed by music. This was especially poignant when Kahan performed an older track, ‘Carlo’s Song’. He introduced it by explaining how the song is a reminder for his late friend Carlo. Throughout the crowd you could feel the shared loss. We all have our own Carlo, someone lost who we wish dearly we could keep alive not only in our minds. Wrapping up with the track of the hour ‘Stick Season’, followed by ‘Homesick’ the crowd was left on a high, not least due to the saltire draped around his shoulders “like superman”. Kahan speaks to people regardless of generation, background or creed. An eclectic audience brought together by a shared love of his music, leave feeling just a little bit hopeful.