Noah Kahan Covers Kendrick Lamar and Performs Three Unreleased Songs, ‘Pain Eater’, ‘Doors’ and ‘Porch Light’ in Mexico

During his wind-hampered Out of the Blue Festival Pool Party performance in Cancún, Mexico, Noah Kahan treated the audience to a plethora of unexpected delights in his setlist.

The Vermont native surprised the crowd by performing a cover of Kendrick Lamar's, ‘Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe’. Although you might assume an intricate, folk version of Kendrick's fiery rap anthem isn't something the world really needed, Kahan has nonetheless covered it a couple of times in the past via socials, with the ‘Stick Season’ singer-songwriter showcasing his varied musical palette. If anyone can turn a Kendrick Lamar song into a sincere folk hit, it's Noah Kahan.

Noah Kahan's take on ‘Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe’ was one of many exciting, left-field inclusions in his Out of the Blue Festival Pool Part 2025 set, with the ‘You're Gonna Go Far’ crooner also previewing not one but three new unreleased songs.

Kahan delivered an evocative, stripped-back rendition of the fan-favourite ‘Doors’, which finds the ‘Northern Attitude’ hitmaker reflecting on being closed-off, “Have you ever stared directly at the sun? / Have you ever shared some closeness so exposed to have it spit back by someone? / So, forgive me if I jump / At the rattle of your keys, "Oh, are you leaving?", "No, babe, I'm just waking up" / But now what? / I'm left staring at the ceiling, listing reasons you should pack all your shit up”.

Noah Kahan has been teasing lyrics from ’Doors’ in recent weeks, with Kahan performing snippets of the much-loved unreleased track on socials over the festive period. Initially, the title of this track wasn't 100% clear, but now that we've seen the setlist from Kahan's Pool Party performance, it seems it's named ‘Doors’.

In addition, Noah Kahan offered up a spellbinding rendition of another couple of previously shared unreleased tracks, ‘Pain Eater’ and ‘Porch Light’. Both are expected to appear on the folk titan's forthcoming Stick Season (Forever) follow-up album - which will hopefully drop this year - with Kahan seemingly testing out fans’ responses to songs he's currently working on ahead of giving them an official release.

We don't yet have the tracklist for his new record, but the fact that ‘Pain Eater’, ‘Doors’ and ’Porch Light’ made their way into Noah Kahan's Pool Party setlist suggests that we can look forward to seeing them included on the highly anticipated project.

Elsewhere during his show, Noah Kahan teamed up with Ashe to sing his infectious, uptempo earworm, ’She Calls Me Back’, with Kahan battling the weather throughout his set.

At one point, Noah Kahan even asked the crowd if they could lend him a cap to stop his hair flying into his eyes, which prompted a barrage of hats being thrown at him. Kahan took to his Instagram Stories shortly after the performance to apologise if he was a little rusty, “Thank you so much to everyone who braved the rain and I'm sorry I forgot lyrics n stuff it's been a while since I've sang live I love y'all thanks for your patience”. Despite this, it's safe to say the Pool Party crowd had no complaints, with Kahan switching up his setlist and serenading attendees with an array of stand-outs from his Stick Season (Forever) era.

Earlier in the four-day Out of the Blue Festival 2025 extravaganza, Noah Kahan joined forces with Mt. Joy on the main stage for a stunning performance of the latter's ‘Bug Eyes’.

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