“Every Moment in My Life Has Led Me Here”: Everything That Happened at Noah Kahan's Boston Fenway Park Shows

Artists will tell you every single show they play is special, and that they approach each set with the same gusto, vigour and excitement.

While this is probably true for the most part, there's no question, when it's a homecoming show, there's an extra buzz of electricity fizzling through both the band on-stage and the audience.

When folk hero Noah Kahan took the stage at Boston's Fenway Park for two back-to-back shows at the iconic baseball venue, he made no secret of how these were the biggest concerts he'd ever been part of. He dubbed the first “the best night of my life”, with the ‘Dial Drunk’ hitmaker repeatedly underlining that it was a long-term dream for him to play one show, let alone two, at the home of the Red Sox.

The sparring themes of missing home and feeling trapped by one's upbringing permeate Noah Kahan's 2023 opus, Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever), with anthems rooted in nearby Vermont such as ‘Northern Attitude’ and ‘Homesick’ echoing out across the bleachers - the latter's key lyric, “I'm mean because I grew up in New England”, drawing a particularly fervent response from the audience.

From the moment Noah Kahan broke down crying during ‘Orange Juice’, only for his adoring fans to finish off the evocative track for him, to the plethora of star-studded guest appearances, the Vermont native brought out all the stops - well, all the stops except one, but we'll get to that - for an unforgettable folk-pop extravaganza.

Adorned in a custom-made overalls with ‘Forever’ and the area codes of New England, his Fenway Park shows felt more like a two-day festival than a concert featuring some of Noah's favourite artists, all of his biggest hits and even a cameo from his family.

We've collected all the highlights of what will go down as not only two of the biggest nights in Noah Kahan's life, but shows that will be etched into the tapestry of folk history.

Noah teased ahead of time that we'd be getting some special guests, but nobody was expecting such a stellar array of A-list figures from the folk and pop universes colliding on the Fenway Park stage. Night One attendees got to witness a sweet, heartfelt duet of ’Everywhere, Everything’ with Gracie Abrams and a rare cover of Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit's ‘If We Were Vampires’ with The Lumineers, before Noah brought everyone back out - plus James Bay and Mt. Joy - for the grand finale, ‘Stick Season’. James Bay and Mt. Joy emerged for ‘Stick Season’ on Night Two, with Mt. Joy also delivering a moving duet of ‘Northern Attitude’.

Noah Kahan has never been afraid to get candid about deeply personal topics through his music, but of them all, ‘Orange Juice’ has become renowned alongside ‘Call Your Mom’ as one of his most vulnerable offerings to date. Noah has cited them both as particularly challenging songs to get through during live shows, and on Night One at Fenway Park, the emotion of the evening got the better of him, and he had to step away from the microphone during the intricate outro.

In a powerfully endearing moment that again highlights the warmth and familial ambience that pervades Noah's fanbase, around 38,000 Fenway Park attendees stepped in to sing the remainder of ‘Orange Juice’ in his place. Not a dry eye in the house.

Night Two's most heartwarming section of the set arrived courtesy of the euphoric crescendo, which saw Noah Kahan bringing out his family and friends for a wonderfully chaotic performance of ‘Stick Season’. This part of the show is always frenetic and raucous, but it reached a whole new level during Noah's final Boston concert.

His grinning family members mirrored the overriding mood of the audience-members, with it feeling as though everyone was watching their childhood friend getting his big break and fulfilling his dreams, rather than some lofty, distant megastar.

Tantalisingly, Noah Kahan again added ‘Pain is Cold Water’ and ‘The Great Divide’ to the setlist for his first Fenway Park show, two unreleased tracks that he's been teasing across socials. He's been hinting at the prospect of a new album for some months now, with his revamped Stick Season (Forever) project, which dropped in February, officially serving as the final chapter of his beloved Stick Season era.

Noah Kahan's decision to perform these unreleased fan-favourites in Boston acts as the strongest indication yet that he's - hopefully - gearing up to drop them in the near future.

They're visceral examples of Noah storytelling prowess and his ability to capture vivid vignettes through his poignant lyricism, and we can't wait to hear the studio versions.

‘The Great Divide’ in particular has been gaining traction across TikTok, so we reckon Noah might be readying this as the lead single from his Stick Season follow-up. Fingers crossed.

Noah Kahan's Fenway Park double-header was a jubilant celebration, with a welcome atmosphere of joy and contentment coursing throughout the stadium on both nights.

Having said this, if there was one tiny negative, it's the subsequent conjecture surrounding Zach Bryan's absence. Noah made reference to the fact that one of his planned special guest appearances had sadly fallen through, and although he never confirmed who this was, fans had been speculating it was supposed to be Zach.

Zach Bryan was performing the night before in Foxborough, a short drive away from Fenway Park, and Brianna LaPaglia, Zach's girlfriend, was in attendance at one of Noah Kahan's Fenway Park shows, leading fans to believe the Oklahoma chart-topper was going to emerge and perform ‘Sarah's Place’ with his good buddy, Noah.

There were some rumours suggesting Zach Bryan was too drunk to perform, but Brianna has taken to TikTok to dismiss these as nonsense, underlining Zach wasn't even at Fenway. She explained, “He didn’t come to the show, because he just did a two-and-a-half hour set at Gillette, a sold-out motherfucking stadium. His voice was fried, and he was going on the longest run of his life the next morning”.

Eagle-eyed fans have spotted that Noah and Zach no longer follow each other on Instagram, with some implying Zach's controversial comments on Trump's attempted assassination may have caused a rift. We're hoping this is unfounded, though, and that they're still pals - and that they decide to hit the studio together again soon, because ‘Sarah's Place’ remains a lustrous gem in both artists’ discographies.

A few have suggested that perhaps Hozier was due to come out for ‘Northern Attitude’ on the second night, with Mt. Joy filling in at the last minute - something that seems much more plausible than Zach's no-show, given that Hozier is due to be in Maine later this week for a show, and he's one of Noah's all-time favourite artists.

It must be said that, regardless of who did or didn't show up, the spotlight throughout both Fenway Park shows was firmly planted on Noah Kahan - a humble yet magnetic trailblazer leading the new wave of folk, country and alt-pop pioneers.

Scrolling through the comments on Noah Kahan's posts following the performances, one apt phrase pops up more than any other: “We made the right person famous”. After these momentous shows at Boston's Fenway Park, we can't help but agree.

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