Concert Reviews

“Every single f—king song is about this place, so I figure if there’s any audience who will get it, it’s this one.”

Noah Kahan, Folk and Fairways Benefit Concert, Stowe, Vermont, Sept. 15, 2026.

After his busy summer of touring major cities across the country, it’s strange to watch Noah Kahan perform on his own. There are no large screens looping scenes of Vermont roads and hillsides behind him. His bandmates, now as recognizable as Noah and his French-braided pigtails, are not playing beside him. In fact, tonight he is not only alone but also without his standard braids — his hair is simply pulled back into a bun.

But even with the intimate setting, it still feels like Bruce Springsteen returning to New Jersey. “There’s no place in the world I’d rather be tonight,” Kahan says.

Capping off a 29-show North American tour for “The Great Divide” album, including a record-breaking, four-night, sold-out run at Fenway Park, Noah is finally home.

In true Vermont spirit, along with partnering with local artisans and food purveyors, Spruce Peak Lodge is now in its second year of partnering with Kahan’s The Busyhead Project. The initiative, created in 2019 and named after his debut album, provides funds and resources needed to end the stigma around mental health. Keeping to his roots, Kahan’s mom, who is of course in attendance, serves as the secretary of the board of The Busyhead Project.

A little over 2,000 tickets were sold through a lottery system, aside from VIP tickets. While some grumbled on social media prior to the show about the ticket prices, the high price tag paid off for The Busyhead Project and all of the people the initiative helps.

“I have some awesome news,” Kahan said from the stage while explaining the two-day event, which also included a golf tournament. “I found out about 10 minutes ago that we’ve raised over $13 million, and I believe we raised $3 million today and last night alone. It’s going to change lives.”

“It’s especially meaningful to gather in Noah’s home state, where The Busyhead Project is proud to support local nonprofits providing critical mental health resources,” Jeb Gutelius, executive director of The Busyhead Project, tells me.

A welcome homecoming

Not surprisingly, the venue was awash in longtime hometown fans. Vermont teenagers Emma Stone and Stella Wood traveled from Swanton and Fairfield to see Kahan play.

“We loved him before ‘Stick Season’ was his popular song,” they tell me. Although this is their first Kahan concert, they are excited that it’s in their home state. “It’s kind of crazy because my mom was fighting for Fenway tickets and couldn’t get them, but she got this small venue which is so much better,” says Stone.

It’s the sense of place that warms these New Englanders. “The first time I listened to him was on the radio here and I heard the line ‘I’ll take 89 to Boston,’ I said, ‘That’s a Vermonter!’” says Cara Zimmerman of Stowe, Vermont. She later played Kahan’s music for her kids because she knew they would appreciate him singing about their shared experience of growing up in Vermont.

“The backroads and the gravel, the community and people who support each other. That’s Vermont,” says Lisa Paquette from Burke, Vermont.

Spotted among the crowd wearing a black cowboy hat is a local Instagram star known as Senator Rocket, founder of Eat Vermont and a partner of Farmhouse Chocolates in Bristol, Vermont. “Noah, like all Vermonters, cherishes this place we call home,” Rocket says.

“He emanates a grounded sense of personhood that comes with knowing that we are always and only ever humans from a community of other real humans irrespective of how big one’s external life becomes,” he continues. “This is the Vermont ethos to the core as I know, understand, and love.”

Kahan pauses in between songs to lament the delay in his homecoming. “I haven’t played in Vermont in so long. It makes me sad. Every single f—king song is about this place, so I figure if there’s any audience who will get it, it’s this one.”

He’s right. There’s not a more perfect place for him to play besides this lawn nestled in the center of Spruce Peak Lodge, at the base of Mount Mansfield where the trees are just starting to bloom in fall reds, yellows, and oranges. The weather has even shown its true New England colors with a few peeks of the sun, low clouds, and even a few sprinkles that make the concertgoers pull up their sweatshirt hoods and and pull down their knit caps.

Stripped-down and keeping it real

Kahan’s set is a stripped-down version of old and new songs that famously revolve around mental health and the place he comes from. “Are you still taking pills in the morning?” Kahan sings in “Maine” from the 2020 “Cape Elizabeth” five-track EP, responding to himself with an impromptu “Yes!” that draws a chorus of solidarity cheers from the crowd.

Kahan introduces the song “Dashboard” from his new album with some advice from his therapist: “My therapist would tell me not to say this about myself, but this song is about being an asshole.”

The acoustic version of “Call Your Mom” exudes despair and loneliness with the sound of his isolated fingerpicking, but the crowd singing along represents the support he offers in his lyrics — “Don’t let this darkness fool you / All lights turned off can be turned on / I’ll drive all night / I’ll call your mom / Oh dear don’t be discouraged / I’ve been exactly where you are.”

We’re again brought back to the ground we stand on when Kahan asks, “Who here is from Vermont? This one’s for us.” As he begins “Headed North,” not only do locals sing the loudest for this song, but the crickets hiding in the shadows also seem to sing along.

“This state has really made me, and I want you guys to know that I don’t forget about the people that were there and have been there for me,” Kahan tells the crowd before letting his fingers start the looping melody of “Orbiter.”

Always one to keep it real, Noah reappears for an encore of “Dial Drunk,” saying “I hate encores, I should have just stayed on stage and played this.” As disappointing as it is to see him leave the stage, we’re just happy he’s here. “I’ll see you real soon,” he tells the crowd, as if we’re a friend or relative, before departing the stage for good.

Setlist for Noah Kahan, Folk and Fairways, Spruce Peak, Stowe, Vermont, Sept. 15, 2026

• All My Love
• Haircut
• Homesick
• Maine
• Dashboard
• The Great Divide
• Headed North
• You’re Gonna Go Far
• Dan
• Call Your Mom
• Paid Time Off
• Orbiter
• Growing Sideways
• Dial Drunk

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