Story by Jordan Reining
Photo by Kaleigh Young
MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Walking onto the stage for his Bonnaroo debut, Tik Tok marvel Noah Kahan had the crowd screaming. With his brown hair tied back and flashing a kind smile, his presence was noticed quickly.
His hour-long set at the That Tent on the Bonnaroo campus featured songs old and new with audience members singing along to as many as they could. One week before his performance he released the deluxe version of his latest album, titled “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever).”
The reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Fan covers and video compilations using Kahan’s songs have become popular on social media.
A fan favorite, “Stick Season”, was the last song of the set. Popular on TikTok, the song has been used as the audio for over 28,000 videos on the app. In fact, Kahan’s recent rise to fame can be linked to TikTok. When his third album was released in October of 2022, multiple songs went viral.
Kahan explained that the feedback has been amazing.
“I’ve been blown away by the intelligence and creativity of all the people that cover the songs, like create their own versions and, you know, put their piece of art into the world,” said Kahan.
During brief breaks in the set, Kahan kept the audience entertained with witty jokes and explanations behind the songs he decided to play.
Cheers erupted from the crowd during these explanations once they connected Kahan’s speeches to a song title or specific lyric. During his performance, attendees swayed to the beat as they belted out lyrics with all their might.
Born in Vermont, much of Kahan’s music revolves around his youth and growing up in a small, town. Included in his show was “Homesick,” a song focusing on trying to escape a small town while being emotionally tethered to it.
Out of all the songs he sang, “Homesick” was the one he looked forward to the most.
“It talks about, you know, being in New England, and I love playing outside of New England and seeing how it responds,” said Kahan.
He mentioned many people connect with the lyrics regardless of their origin.
One Bonnaroovian seeing Kahan perform for the first time during Friday’s show was Ricky Gonzalez, a Columbus, Ohio native. He has attended the festival four times.
Within the past year, Gonzalez became a fan of Kahan’s music, and was overjoyed to hear it live. Naturally, Gonzalez has a favorite song from Kahan’s discography and was lucky enough to experience it.
“ ‘Orange Juice’ is my favorite one,” said Gonzalez. “I was looking forward to it and he actually played it.”
Although the festival is just getting started, Kahan has set the bar high. With hundreds of people crowded around the stage and out from under the cover of the tent, voices rang out in unison against the background of bass echoing through The Farm from other performances. Kahan gave plenty of time for the fans to be heard clearly, letting them sing entire verses without his help.
Gonzalez and his group loved the show. They sang together, holding on to each other as the music washed over them. So far, Kahan has been the highlight of the festival for Gonzalez.
“We’ve had a great time, and Noah Kahan just killed it,” said Gonzalez.
Jordan Reining is a staff writer for MTSU Sidelines.
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