With ‘The Great Divide Tour,’ Noah Kahan made a sold-out Citizens Bank Park feel like a melancholic suburban backyard

Most of us remember the 2010s Obama-era stomp-clap folk music, brought on by bands like the Lumineers, that graced the soundtracks of films like Silver Linings Playbook, sparking an intensely optimistic sound.

But can that even exist today? Can folk music rise in the 2020s, amid rapid social media usage, volatile politics, and a general feeling of uneasiness?

It can and it does.

Often veering into the gloomy and the existential, but somehow still managing to stay romantic and rebellious, thanks to the folk-pop stylings of Noah Kahan.

Kahan released his latest The Great Divide in April. The introspective collection of songs explores the realities of fame and the isolating feeling of leaving home. The tour behind that album brought him to Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.

After the openers — Wayne native Annabelle Dinda, sporting a Phillies shirt, and Gigi Perez — a one-minute countdown popped up on the screen at 8:30 p.m., met with loud cheers from the audience.

When the clock struck zero, a sunset scene of a field appeared on a screen on stage, with The Great Divide displayed across it.

The roof of a house slowly descended from the top of the stage to meet the rest of the barn house in the middle of the stage. Then out came Kahan, with his signature French braids and baggy clothes, ready to bring his woodsy vibe to Philadelphia.

The audience in the 40,000-plus-seat stadium reacted swiftly, jumping to their feet and screaming for Kahan. The crowd was a mix of Gen Z fans, new to the contemporary folk-pop sound, and millennials, who were undoubtedly jamming out to Mumford & Sons during the aforementioned 2010s folk-rock era.

There were also families with young children in tow. Some appeared to be fans themselves, wearing the tour’s merchandise and singing along.

After performing “American Cars” and “Doors” from The Great Divide, Kahan addressed the sold-out crowd, promising to make the audience very sad with his melancholic music.

“Philadelphia, what a … dream,” he said. “It must be something in the water. How do you all have clinical depression?”

Kahan continued with “All My Love” from 2022’s Stick Season, with the set around him bringing the music to life, even in the face of the promised melancholy.

Rocks covered in moss sat one side of the stage with an abandoned gas station scene set up on the other, with tall grass scattered throughout. String lights warmed up the setting as it got darker, making Citizens Bank Park feel like a small-town backyard. On the screen behind Kahan, seasons changed and insects crawled around amid visuals from the singer’s home state of Vermont.

The foresty and naturalist aesthetic of both the music and the setting was an homage to Kahan’s childhood spent on a tree farm in rural Vermont.

The crowd matched the scenery: flowing skirts, bandannas, cowboy hats and boots, denim, corduroy, and just about every other clothing item you’d see when searching “farm aesthetic” on Pinterest. Everyone attending could easily pop over to the Schuylkill River Trail for a quick hike after the show.

After singing another new song, “Downfall,” Kahan pretended to answer a phone call.

“What’s up, Twitter,” he said into the phone. “Oh, Noah Kahan can’t sell out stadiums?” The response was a thunderous cheer as Kahan pretended to hang up.

This is Kahan’s fifth concert tour and his first time headlining a show at Citizens Bank Park, playing for a sold-out crowd. His last tour, “The Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)” Tour in 2024, didn’t stop in Philadelphia.

After singing and playing the guitar for nine songs standing on the main stage, Kahan decided to shake things up a bit. For “Dial Drunk,” he moved to the left side of the stage, where an actor dressed as a police officer arrested him. He performed the first half of the song from inside a police car fitted with cameras.

For “Willing and Able,” Kahan sat upon the roof that came down in the beginning of the show. There, he softly played the guitar and sang the lyrics to the somber song about a strained sibling relationship.

Fans sang along and cheered until Kahan made his gravest mistake of the show: suggesting that Philadelphians be friendly toward Boston.

“Having lived in Boston, you guys are a lot more alike than you think, and I think you need to reconcile,” Kahan said, citing the tough brotherly relationship in “Willing and Able.” This sentiment was the only thing that was met with boos on Friday.

Fittingly enough, Kahan recalled being heckled at a Philly show.

One hopes the city hosting a sold-out show will soften his feelings toward Philadelphia.

He also took the opportunity, standing in the middle of the floor seats, to address the backlash he received on Twitter for his original setlist he played in Orlando on June 11. Fans complained about the lack of older songs, as the singer filled the set with songs from his last two albums. The fans who booed Kahan’s online haters were rewarded with his older song “Maine” from the EP Cape Elizabeth, which he called his favorite song he’s ever written.

In addition to the guitar, Kahan’s six-piece band comprised a host of other unique instruments that got to shine. This included a fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and a resonator guitar, all contributing to Kahan’s unique folk sound that blends both rock and pop.

As the show went on, Kahan took multiple opportunities to listen to the crowd sing and coyly smile as he expressed his gratitude, often peppering it with his well-known dry humor.

“You guys are gonna make me emotional,” he said to the screaming fans, giggling.

Kahan closed out his main set with “Orange Juice” and “New Perspective” before exiting the stage and reentering it as fans started growing restless. For the encore, sitting at a spotlit piano, he performed the incredibly moody “End of August.”

That was followed by a more upbeat “Homesick.” Of course, he wrapped things up with an explosive extended performance of his biggest hit, “Stick Season.”

There was no one in the crowd who didn’t sing along.

Kahan made sure to thank his bandmates before one final chorus that culminated in a brief fireworks display over the stage.

And just like that, the woodland escape that is a Noah Kahan concert came to an end for Philadelphia.