Noah Kahan: American Stick Season takes over British Summer Time
“My name Noah and this is the biggest show I’ve played in my life!”
these words echo from a stage through Hyde Park in London on a Friday evening in July. The American singer Noah Kahan stands with his guitar on the Great Oak Stage in front of 65.000 people, who were beaming with excitement to watch the folk-pop sensation perform.
BST Hyde Park is an annual festival held in the heart of London, spread over multiple weekends. For the eleventh year of the festival, the singer from Vermont, USA, Noah Kahan, was announced as one of the Headliner’s. Kahan has risen to fame over the past years. He released his latest album, Stick Season, four years ago, and it remains a massive success, leading to him selling out previous shows in London and now the infamous British Summer Time Festival. Like every year, BST promises incredible shows featuring legendary headliners and rising stars, creating unforgettable nights in the British summer breeze. This year was no different: An exciting mix of already established and up-and-coming artists got the chance to play the different stages at one of London’s biggest parks and support Noah.
The artists who got to support that day were perfectly tailored to the folk singer. While Kahan prepared to take over the Great Oak Stage in the Evening, the other acts got to play throughout the day. London was blessed with crystal blue skies and warm temperatures, making it a perfect day to be in the park. On the Rainbow Stage at mid-afternoon, Sydney Rose performed her indie-folk and Americana tunes like “We Hug Now”. The British artist Paris Paloma got to play her ethereal songs like “labour” on the Birdcage Stage. Another indie-folk singer, Gigi Perez, got to perform songs like “Chemistry” on the Great Oak Stage.
Many fans were anticipating GRAMMY-winning producer and artist FINNEAS on the Great Oak Stage. After thanking everyone for “cooking in the hot sun” to see him, he performed songs like “Break My Heart Again” and “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night”. He also surprised the audience by bringing the singer Ashe on Stage. Finneas and Ashe have formed a new Band called The Favours, and they treated Hyde Park to unreleased Songs and a performance of “Till Forever Falls Apart”, which was magical and threw everyone back to 2020.
The last highly anticipated act before the Headliner was singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams. She performed her usual hits like “Risk” and “Let it Happen”, which were immediately met with high enthusiasm, with everyone singing and clapping along. She also had a surprise in store. She invited songwriter and producer Aaron Dessner on stage and performed with him a couple of songs, including the debut of an unreleased song called “Crazy Girl”. After Gracie, the crowd was super ready for the one-and-a-half-hour set of Noah Kahan.
Then it was time. The moment Noah came on stage, it was obvious that the crowd was in for a great performance. He played banger after banger, starting with his upbeat songs like “All My Love” or “New Perspective”. The whole crowd was singing and jumping, and the dust whirled up from the ground. On that day, Noah announced in his Instagram Story that he had some surprises in store, making everyone wonder what they would be. One of them was bringing out Gracie for the song “Everywhere, Everything”, which was a beautiful performance.
Just like the acts before, he also performed two unreleased songs. One is called “Deny Deny Deny”, a fast-paced song with some rock influence and “The Great Divide”. After switching to the B-Stage, he changed from the quick folk songs to his gut-wrenching, sad ballads like “Strawberry Wine”.
Noah promised surprises, and surprises we did get: for his encore, he started to play “Northern Attitude”, and after the first verse, he decided to bring one last guest on stage. Someone who took a break for his health for the past two years but decided to return in 2025. Lewis Capaldi. The energy when he came on stage was unmatched. Everyone was cheering and going crazy for the Scottish singer. People were crying, clapping, and screaming when Lewis got to do the “Hozier Yell” and sing the second verse. I haven’t experienced many moments before which were so electrifying. Kahan’s last song of the night was “Stick Season”, and fireworks complemented the closing of the show. The crowd took the last chance to sing along so loudly and let out every last bit of energy for that evening.
It was an unforgettable summer night filled with many surprises and good music, making it an event people will talk about for a long time. We can’t wait to see what BST has in store for next year!
WRITTEN BY
Meggi
I like to write about everything pop & fandom culture. Since it has been an integral part of my life for over 10 years I want to write about it for people to get an insight into something they might not understand. I‘d love to shed light onto the misogynistic view on fansgirls/boys. Sport fans and pop music fans are not as different.
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