Noah Kahan may go down in history as the only person to get a call from God at Wrigley Field.
The singer picked up a ringing phone handed to him on stage and got a very important message from on high. God wanted to congratulate Kahan for getting a hole-in-one on the golf course on Monday (true story) and to say he loved him the most out of everybody in the world.
“Thank you so much!” Kahan responded with all the sarcasm and side-jabbing he’s become known for as much as his music. If there’s one thing to know and love about Kahan, it’s that he’s one of the most self-deprecating and honest artists on the planet today who doesn’t feel like he’s any more special than the next guy.
Over the course of two entertaining hours Tuesday at the ballpark, Kahan made fun of his jeans being three sizes too small (“well, that’s not going to help my body dysmorphia”), told people to act out their worst impulses and to “plant your feet in the ground and never change at all” and rooted for other’s downfalls on songs like the rootsy “New Perspective.”
“Who’s ready to get absolutely f—— miserable tonight?” Kahan joked, earning a huge roar of applause from the sold-out crowd full of diehards that continue to be drawn like moths to the illuminating realism in his music. Many in Chicago showed the lengths of their dedication by lining up in the morning on a day when the temperature peaked at 96, just shy of the record 100 degrees set in 1998, waiting to get inside. “You’re at the right show,” he retorted.
But in between the verbal barbs, the 29-year-old also sang openly about addiction and sobriety on the tender, loving “Orange Juice,” gave a shoutout to his “best friend in the whole world” on “Dan” and got real about depression and longing for a place in the world on the moving folk ballad “The View Between Villages.”
All of it was supported by a six-piece hoedown band (fiddle, mandolin, electric and acoustic guitars, drums and keys) and panoramic video screens full of bucolic images of Americana, which helped give a glimpse into Kahan’s once small-town farm life in Vermont and its values that the singer has both tried to escape and wants to return to at the same time.
Ten years ago, if someone had said an artist like Kahan could fill a ballpark with his coffeehouse songs and successfully close out an oddball Wrigley Field concert season that was predominately folk focused with a lineup that also included Mumford & Sons and Tyler Childers, you would have wanted to check for a fever in case they were hallucinating. But these are the rock stars now. Whereas the façade of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll used to sell out stadiums, for this generation, that’s been replaced with empathy, sincerity, vulnerability and calling out bs.
And Kahan has been one of the best to do it. His two-night stint at Wrigley Field follows a historic four-night sellout at Fenway Park. His new album “The Great Divide” had the biggest first-week sales for a rock album since 2014, according to Billboard. (It’s not really rock as much as it is emo-folk but chart categorization is another story.) And his “Out of Body” documentary that premiered on Netflix in April opened him up to a whole new audience that wholly relates to the themes of depression, anxiety, social pressure and sense of self in 2026.
Kahan has come a long way from his first time in Chicago playing Schubas in 2018, which he looked back on fondly during Tuesday’s performance. “I remember feeling like, man, if I could just play this size venue for the rest of my career, I’d be happy. And the fact that we’re here is f—— incredible.”
Kahan has kept much of that intimate show sensibility on this stadium tour, too. Yes, there were some top-notch bits, like acting out the drama of his hit “Dial Drunk” with an onstage “arrest” and the grand finale of “Stick Season” with a boatload of fireworks that made up for this year’s lack of Fourth of July displays due to the weather. But the most effective moments were when Kahan simply sat on the roof of a makeshift cabin prop to deliver the acoustic confessional “Willing and Able” or when he appeared solo for a campfire take on “Call Your Mom.”
The ability to be both the charismatic entertainer and the down-to-earth real guy is Kahan’s superpower that will serve him long in his career, because for many, that makes him a god.
Noah Kahan returns to Wrigley Field on Wednesday, July 15.
Noah Kahan set list for July 14, 2026, show at Wrigley Field
American Cars
Doors
All My Love
Deny Deny Deny
Staying Still
Haircut
Downfall
She Calls Me Back
Dashboard
Dial Drunk
Willing and Able
Porch Light
Orbiter
Call Your Mom
Paid Time Off
Dan
The View Between Villages
Northern Attitude
The Great Divide
Orange Juice
New Perspective
Encore
End of August
Homesick
Stick Season