Noah Kahan Thrills Crowd at Sold-Out Wembley Arena
Noah Kahan Thrills Crowd at Sold-Out Wembley Arena
Noah Kahan gives London a Valentine’s Day treat for the first of two nights at a sold-out OVO Wembley Arena.
By Adam Davidson
Photography by @aysiamarotta
When Noah Kahan last performed in London, it was in November 2023 during two headlining shows at the modest 2,300-capacity Kentish Town Forum. Three months later, the Grammy-nominated artist has sold out two huge shows at OVO Wembley Arena.
The New Englander quickly became a superstar following the release of the deluxe version of ‘Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)’ last Summer, with the title track and ‘Dial Drunk’ going viral over TikTok and taking his career to heights he couldn’t have imagined.
Photography by @aysiamarotta
The lights dimmed in Wembley Arena and the band made their way onto the stage. Before Kahan had even appeared, the drummer was banging the kick-drum, which prompted the audience to clap along in unison. Kahan rang on stage to perform ‘All My Love’ and the atmosphere was instantly established as everyone sang at the top of their voices.
The acoustics inside Wembley Arena were something to behold as every lyric was echoed back. This is a testament to Kahan’s songwriting as this level of audience interaction can usually only be achieved by an artist that has meaningful lyrics that deeply resonate with their fans, as his music clearly does.
He performed tracks like ‘She Calls Me Back’, ‘Everything, Everywhere’ and ‘Paul Revere’ with crisp vocals and such stage presence. It would be easy to forget that Kahan isn’t a seasoned professional who has been performing at arenas for years and years, in fact he’s only been doing it on this scale for less than 6 months.
Whilst taking a break between songs, Kahan said, “Wow, I can’t believe I’m playing arenas!” He has had to bide his time to hit the big time but he’s here to stay and play on the biggest of stages.
Following ‘Northern Attitude’, Kahan performed his new single ‘Forever’, which has been out less than a week. Nevertheless, the audience sang word for word with the same gusto as they had done for his more established tunes.
One of the highlights of the evening was the stunning performance of ‘Orange Juice’, Kahan showcased his showmanship, stage presence and stunning vocals throughout the song. It is an incredibly beautiful song about two friends reconciling after tragedy and trauma – which would presumably bring the mood down but quite the opposite, it created an incredible synergy between artist and audience.
With a performance like this, it can often be a tough decision between standing in complete silence and listening in awe; or singing at the top of your voice word-for-word. Most of the audience opted for the latter and the atmosphere inside the arena was all the better for it.
The main section of the set ended with the hit song ‘Dial Drunk’, which raised the roof and brought the energy to a new peak as everyone was on their feet and dancing along.
This energy was maintained throughout the encore as the band came back to perform three songs: ‘The View Between Villages’, the No.1 hit ‘Stick Season’ and ‘Homesick.’
After a great performance throughout, it would be hard to say that he saved the best for last but ‘Stick Season’ and ‘Homesick’ resonate with so many people that it just brings out such a unique atmosphere that is hard to replicate.
For those who weren’t fortunate to catch Kahan’s two Wembley dates – fear not! The New Englander will perform two massive headline shows at the 02 Arena on Aug 21-22.
