I stand by my original sentiments. I did not enjoy Noah Kahan’s set at High Water Fest. Sorry to disappoint anybody who hoped to see me come back around on this guy.

Just got home. The anticipation for his set was insane all day long. People were talking about it, camping out at the stage, ready to faint from excitement (and the 90 degree heat). Fleet Foxes played an awesome set and when they were done, the crowd didn’t leave. They were all there to see Noah Kahan.

Seeing how famous he is, I was really hopeful that I would enjoy it. I was caught up in the wave of anticipation for a moment, thinking that it might end up being pretty sick. I really wanted to like it.

In the end, it actually pains me to see how famous he is. He’s a good singer, I’ll give him that. But the actual music part was lacking to me. The volume on stage was not nearly loud enough, so the performance had this muted feel to it, except for the belting out of every word from the audience. I was not impressed by what they tried to pass off as a “guitar solo,” which was more like three planned measures of mediocrity.

I was wondering if the volume was kept low on purpose to keep the crowd from going too crazy. It really was insanely crowded. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy it.

I couldn’t handle it. I got the hell out of there after 30 minutes.

The stage banter to me was the most painful part. He told everybody to look at the person they came there with, and then notice the worst thing about them and remember it forever. Well, Noah Kahan, what about the people who came there with themselves?

I get it, nobody wants to hear the “love your neighbor” platitudes, but to me it seems to exemplify the poison of American culture. We are tuned to be negative and view each other and ourselves in negative lights. With a platform this large, I would hope he could have brought something with more substance.

Also, he had everybody in the audience put their hands up in the air and then said “Now give me all your money.” The person behind me said “you already have it.” Lol. I left shortly after that. The dude probably got paid at least half a mil for an hour and 15 minute set.

To me, this is bubblegum music that represents a moment in history that will be discussed in the future, and hopefully we will move on from into greener pastures. It represents a low point in American culture, and the state of the music industry. This is what sells tickets. This is what people are buying.

I wish I could have gone to Vegas to see Phish instead.