I must echo the sentiment of Noah Kahan’s fandom: we made the right person famous. Kahan’s cathartic set August 9 at SDSU’s Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater left no heartstring untouched and managed to be both delicate and a proper party. 

Kahan’s distinctly New England aesthetic shines through in his rousing guitar and natural vocals, a style he recently emphasized in 2022’s album Stick Season. The album is an intimate conversation straight out of Kahan’s mind in its darkest hours; he feels perpetually cold and distant in Northern Attitude, offers his shoulder to a loved one recovering from alcoholism in Orange Juice, and  comes to terms with the fact a past partner has moved on in Dial Drunk. 

Kahan feels stunted and landlocked in the foggy Vermont town that he grew up in but doesn’t feel raised in, but his jovial, genuinely kind crowd interactions between songs show that he has healed, is healing, and that anyone struggling with his problems or issues all their own can do the same. Whatever you need out of a concert outdoors under the stars, Noah Kahan delivers.