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“My name is Noah Kahan and I can’t believe I’m here.” The Grammy-nominated chart-topping folk-pop superstar has just bounded onstage at a packed Wembley Arena but, judging by the 12,000-strong Valentine’s Day audience’s rapturous reaction, no introduction is needed.
It’s easy to see why Kahan is surprised, however – the humble singer-songwriter‘s crowning moment has been a long time in the making. The now-27-year-old might have broken through in 2023 with the help of TikTok and a viral Olivia Rodrigo cover, but his first release was in 2017 and his 2018 London debut saw him perform for just 77 people at The Social. Since, he’s graduated from theatres (Kahan sold out two nights at the 2,300-capacity Kentish Town Forum last November) for arenas. Many of his diehard British stans – lads in flannel shirts, denim jackets and their newly-bought Noah Kahan trucker caps; girls sporting sparkly cowgirl hats – make up the audience for his first of two nights at Wembley Arena.
Noah Kahan performs at The OVO Arena Wembley on February 14, 2024 in London, England. (Credit: Burak Cingi/Redferns)
They know every lyric of his 19-track setlist. During opener ‘All My Love’, the arena transforms into a choir for songs old and new: from recently released love song ‘Forever’ – which is dedicated to everyone who was made to come here and “sweat for two hours” – to 2019 throwback ‘False Confidence’, which was written when he “felt insecure and didn’t know where he fit into the industry”.
Yes, some of Kahan’s songs are certainly unorthodox in their narratives, but that’s what makes his music so uniquely compelling. Take ‘Everywhere, Everything’ which, despite being a song about decomposing fingers, results in Wembley being illuminated with phone torches. This is Kahan’s singular strength, however. He turns bleak subject matters – much of breakthrough third album ‘Stick Season’ was created during the pandemic – into an easy-listening yet impactful fusion of folk, pop and indie. His recollection of those isolated times has struck a very real chord around the world.
Kahan is not only a compelling songwriter and powerful vocalist, but a versatile guitarist. Regularly swapping from acoustic (‘New Perspective’) to electric, his show never lacks pace. For every softer moment (‘Call Your Mum’ has loved-up couples swaying), there’s textbook country (‘Dial Drunk’ and Paul Revere’, the latter resulting in “yee-haw’s”) and foot-stomping folk (‘She Calls Me Back’ and ‘Northern Attitude’) and rock.
Expectedly, ‘Stick Season’ receives the night’s most rapturous reaction. This sleeper hit for the ages – Kahan teased it for two years on TikTok before its official release – is now inescapable, sitting atop the UK Singles Chart for a seventh week.
Having made folk-pop cool again – it was once, perhaps fairly, derided as ‘stomp clap hey’ music – there’s no denying the torch-bearing troubadour was made to play massive stages. August’s headline show at London’s The O2, a venue even bigger than this, looks like it’ll be a walk in the park.
Noah Kahan played:
‘All My Love’
‘New Perspective’
‘She Calls Me Back’
‘Everywhere, Everything’
‘Your Needs, My Needs’
‘Pain Is Like Cold Water’
‘Maine’
‘Growing Sideways’
‘Paul Revere’
‘Northern Attitude’
‘Forever’
‘False Confidence’
‘Call Your Mom’
‘You’re Gonna Go Far’
‘Orange Juice’
‘Dial Drunk’
‘The View Between Villages’
‘Stick Season’
‘Homesick”
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“Express yourself,” a whispered voice hushes through the main stage as the lights flicker. Doja Cat is about to take to the main stage to headline the final night of Coachella 2024, and when she emerges at the end of the runway in a hazmat suit, you know she’s going to do as those two words say.
For the rapper, expressing herself often means doing things others might not – either because her form of expression is too off-the-wall for the rest of the world or too controversial. Tonight, she proves the former spirit is well and truly alive, bringing a touch of brilliant weirdness to the desert.
After the opening two songs, she takes off the white suit that leaves only her face visible to reveal a body suit covered in long locks of blonde hair. Ominous tones roll out over the field as she crawls up to the main stage before ‘Demons’ cuts in, and she’s joined by dancers dressed in yeti costumes. If these are the demons she’s rapping about, they don’t look too bad – cuddly, almost – and she embraces them fully, climbing on one’s shoulders to deliver the final parts of the track.
This is just the beginning of the Doja Cat spectacle tonight, which includes multiple outfit changes and stage antics that get increasingly madcap. After a commanding ‘Tia Tamera’, she disappears behind a curtain, only her silhouette visible, as the buzzing sound of an electric razor whirrs, and she pretends to shave off the thigh-length blonde hair she’s been whipping around until now. When she emerges, she sports a shaved head and a look that can only be described as high fashion cyborg.
As the performance enters its final throes, she’s joined by a very special, unusual guest – the gigantic skeleton of a dinosaur. It rolls down the runway after her as she airs ‘WYM Freestyle’, looking like she’s about to be its next victim. Before the track is up, though, it appears to decide Doja is too formidable an opponent and retreats back to where it came from.
Formidable is exactly what the star is tonight, crafting a fiery set that bounces through her rap-focused songs and never lets the energy drop. ‘OKLOSER’, which gets its live debut tonight, is an infectious highlight, while ‘Balut’ drops the tempo to something a little more soulful but still powerful. When she brings out living human guests to join her on stage, she doesn’t come close to being overshadowed.
21 Savage appears for ’n.h.i.e.’, while Teezo Touchdown ups the weird, vocalising into a flower that seems to require his whole head to be submerged in its petals. A$AP Rocky makes his second appearance of the weekend for a ferocious ‘URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!’, trading bars with his host from the top of a scaffolding tower. Earlier in the evening, South African a cappella group The Joy bring light to ‘Shutcho’.
It’s unfortunate that the crowd tonight isn’t much bigger than it is – or that, other than the fans down the front, its energy isn’t far higher. Sure, it’s the final night of the weekend and the chilly desert winds are roaring, but the reception for Doja is disappointingly flat. Perhaps that’s because she doesn’t give the casual viewers what they want – her pop hits. There is no ‘Say So’ in this set, nor a rendition of ‘Kiss Me More’ – with or without a cameo from SZA. ‘Paint The Town Red’, her latest smash, is saved until the penultimate track in the setlist, but even when its opening notes drop, the response is muted.
Regardless, Doja sticks to her guns throughout and closes the performance in the kind of way that leaves the audience confused. After a brief break from the stage, the rapper reappears back at the end of the runway, which has now turned into a ring full of slimy, grey mud. She and her dancers get stuck into the mess as she closes the set with ‘Wet Vagina’, somehow not slipping and sliding through it but nailing the choreography.
As Doja strides back to the main stage and blows a kiss goodbye, the crowd hesitates, wondering, “Is that it?” They get their answer when the lights finally go out – a subdued ending, perhaps, but one that comes after 90 minutes of pure pageantry.
‘Acknowledge Me’
‘Shutcho’
‘Demons’
‘Tia Tamera’
‘Fuck The Girls (FTG)’
‘Gun’
‘OKLOSER’
‘Ouchies
‘n.h.i.e.’
‘Attention’
’97’
‘Balut’
‘Need To Know’
‘MASC’
‘Streets’
‘Agora Hills’
‘Ain’t Shit’
‘WYM Freestyle’
‘URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!’
‘Paint The Town Red’
‘Wet Vagina’
