Noah Kahan addressed his attire early in the show this past Monday night while donning a very northernly-looking jacket and bandana combination: “I don’t like it. I look dumb,” he told the crowd after muttering that he resembled a golden doodle. You would have been forgiven for assuming a show on July 1 would be sticky and sweaty affair, but his fall jacket actually fit in well on a fairly cloudy and gusty evening at the RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater¹ in Ridgefield, Washington. Thankfully, the crowd didn’t seem to mind the look or the weather, as they sang along in earnest throughout the evening. At times, it even felt like the enthusiasm was dialed up a bit toomuch, with absolutely ear-piercing screams coming from the younger areas of the crowd during the opening notes of nearly every song.

The evening started with Jensen McRae’s opening set and Kahan’s band—minus Noah Kahan—took the stage around 9 PM, prompting everyone in the sold-out venue to their feet, where the audience remained for the entire show. After a quick introductory jam, Noah joined the group and launched into “Dial Drunk” from 2022’s Stick Season, a lively and entertaining way to kick off the set. Kahan openly questioned whether this was technically a Portland, Oregon show, hesitantly asking the crowd if they were maybe from somewhere else, prompting overwhelming cheers from the Oregonians and a just a few competing yells from the smaller contingent from Washington.

“New Perspective” and “Everywhere, Everything” followed before Kahan dipped into his 2019 album Busyhead with the crowd full-heartedly clapping along throughout “False Confidence” before a particularly lovely version of “Forever” slowed things down a bit. You might have thought that the nature of Kahan’s moody songs would create a sort of stop-and-go effect with the energy repeatedly rising and falling, but it was quite the opposite—there was this persistent anti-gravity effect where the enthusiasm from the crowd never seemed to dip.

The stage went through a quick refresh where a larger-than-life version of Kahan’s mother’s living room, complete with a painting and framed family photos, was recreated for everyone to enjoy. The band sat down to work through acoustic versions of “Come Over” and “Godlight” before returning to the regular stage arrangement with “She Calls Me Back”. Kahan then switched his guitar for a mandolin to introduce “All My Love”, which was a highlight—maybe the highlight?—of the show. It certainly brought the crowd back into the fold after the acoustic living room set, with lots of foot stomping, hand clapping, and singing along. “Your Needs, My Needs” was introduced by announcing “The next song is about Zoloft. Consider taking it.” “Spoiled”, an unreleased track that most of the crowd didn’t know yet followed and “You’re Gonna Go Far” was teed up as “If anyone came here alone tonight, this one’s for you.”

Kahan took the time to introduce his entire band before “Homesick”, giving each member a slot to showcase themselves with a short solo before jumping into the song. While the band finished up, Kahan quickly left the stage and worked his way through the side of the crowd and over to the “B-stage” set up near the soundboard, right in front of the audience on the lawn. The smaller stage hosted solo acoustic performances of “Growing Sideways” and a newer song, “Best Friend”, with most of the lawn waving their phone flashlights in the air in the modern-day version of the Zippo lighter display.

It’s easy to lose track of time on the road and Kahan casually dropped a line about it being a Tuesday night, prompting quizzical looks between the concert-goers all asking “Wait, it’s Monday, right?” (Reader, it was definitely a Monday.) If there was a low point to the show, it was the next stretch of songs: “Catastrophize” (a dip into the 2018 EP Hurt Somebody), “Call Your Mom”, and “Orange Juice” collectively were a bit of a speed bump, but perhaps that helped tee up the finale a bit more. 

While the band prepped for the next song, Kahan asked the crowd if it gets pretty cold in the area, noting that he had been told his record had some Pacific Northwest vibes. Predictably, “Northern Attitude” came next while a light dusting of “snow” began to fall on the crowd towards the end of a raucous sing along from the audience, an absolutely delightful touch through the final chorus. After a very quick encore break the band returned with “The View Between Villages” before closing with the final highlight of the evening: the anthemic, hit song “Stick Season”, this time with fake leaves that doubled as confetti raining down on the crowd in a celebratory finale.

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1. Despite the various name changes throughout the years (all terrible), the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater, Sleep Country Amphitheater, RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater continues to maintain its grip on being one of the worst locations across the country to see a show. The venue itself is totally fine once you’re inside, but the fact that Ridgefield still hasn’t figured out how to handle traffic in or out the shows means you’ll likely more time in the car than at the actual show. It’s a small miracle—and a testament to the artists playing here—that fans continue to make the trek to this venue at all.