By Kalie Hand
On August 21, 2026, I attended the Noah Kahan concert, which could also be described as the best day of my entire life. I attended this concert with some of my closest friends, Taylor Cusick, Maya Fischer, and Deetya Rajan. One thing about me is that I absolutely love Noah Kahan; he has been my top artist for 3 years, and it has been a long-time dream to attend one of his concerts. Additionally, one of my other favorite musicians, Gigi Perez, was one of Kahan’s opening acts. So it is safe to say that I was more than excited for this day to come. However, many hurdles had to be overcome before this dream became a reality.
The first hurdle was buying the tickets and facing the Ticketmaster war. On February 10, I sat in my second-period musical theatre class and joined the virtual waiting room. As the timer ticked down, my nerves got higher and higher. Finally, 12:00 hit, and I was thrown into the queue. With only 3471 people in front of me, I grew hopeful. However, my hope began to die due to a few credit card issues; I got kicked out of the checkout window and then was made to select new tickets. While frantically scrambling to find new tickets, I saw the few available tickets slipping out from under my cursor as I tried to select a new set. Despite these struggles, I was able to purchase the four tickets that I needed. Tears welled up in my eyes as relief washed over me, and I realized that I finally had tickets to see my favorite musician in the whole world.
Next, I had to decide on an outfit. This is something I take incredibly seriously and will spend weeks planning and putting together. So, I scoured Pinterest and Instagram, searching for some inspiration on what to wear. Eventually settling on crocheting a short-sleeve bolero. So, three days and countless Marvel movies later, I finished this bolero. However, just a mere 4 days before the concert, I decided I hated my outfit and decided to sew an entirely new shirt that night. Somehow, I was able to finish this new shirt in two days and was very happy with the result.
Then, finally, came the day I had been waiting for. We arrived at Oracle Park full of excitement and nerves. Within about five minutes of stepping into the venue, I already began to cry; I began thinking of all the ways Kahan’s music had helped me throughout my life. Eventually, the tears subsided; we found our seats, spent far too much money on merch, and thoroughly enjoyed both opening acts. However, one problem arose. I had neglected to bring a jacket, a silly move considering that the concert was in San Francisco, which is quite notorious for being incredibly cold and windy. Nevertheless, I still had the best time. Many tears were shed throughout the whole concert. One memorably tearful moment was when Kahan began playing the surprise song he had chosen for us, “Call Your Mom”, one of his saddest songs, also a song very important to Taylor and I. Although he made me cry, I can confidently say that Kahan put on an amazing show, and I could not have asked for a better experience with some of the people I love the most.
Overall, I sang, I danced (and shivered), I cried, I laughed, and I screamed. We left the concert, voices raw and fingertips frozen, but hearts full and warm. Singing “Sweet Caroline” with 40,000 strangers as we exited the venue, I was reminded that all these people around me might have nothing in common, but music brought us all together, and that is a beautiful thing that I will never forget.
