BST Hyde Park, featuring Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams and a group of amazing support acts on Friday the 4th of July was definitely an experience. Other popular artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, Zach Bryan and Olivia Rodrigo are headlining at similar concerts throughout the Summer.
The day long festival set up was amazing: with a variety of food stands celebrating many different cuisines, bars and water fountains- most necessary during the 32 degree heatwave that blessed us that afternoon. 3 stages were set up within the park: the Birdcage stage and the Rainbow stage, hosting artists such as Sydney Rose and Paris Paloma throughout the afternoon and the Great Oak stage, where I spent my day squashed against the barricade to watch Hazlett, Finneas, Gracie Abrams and of course Noah Kahan himself.
Before getting to the main event, I must appreciate the support acts: especially Finneas, who I admit I had always only thought of as Billie Eilish’s brother, and that one very minor character in the last season of Glee. His 30 minute long set consisted of some of his beautifully heartfelt singles, followed by a collaboration with Ashe to play “Till Forever Falls Apart”: a song I had heard but never knew who sang it, along with their newly established band The Favors. Finneas’ calm yet powerful voice, along with meaningful lyrics and bubbly yet grateful personality made his performance one I will definitely remember, and many of his songs were added to my playlist on my way home!
Gracie Abrams, despite being an artist I love, seemed slightly underwhelming compared to Finneas’ set, despite her being Noah Kahan’s special guest and supporting act. Her set consisted of some of her classic songs, such as “That’s So True”, “Risk” and “I Love You, I’m sorry” however “Free Now” or “Feels Like” were not on the setlist, despite being my personal favourites. However, she did invite Aaron Dessner onto the stage to perform an unreleased song which was amazing to witness, but I have to admit it did not contain the same level of energy and emotion I had hoped her set would deliver: although that may have been my mild sunstroke talking! However, briefly spotting Gracie with Paul Mescal together in the golden circle amongst the crowd was an exciting sight, so she redeems herself there slightly.
Now onto Noah Kahan’s set: I had many expectations, and he went above and beyond every one to deliver the most heartbreakingly beautiful concert I have ever attended: from song choice to surprise guests and his general commentary and humour. He sung many of his classic songs such as “New perspective” and “Forever” which are on his generic 2025 setlist but also played “Orange Juice”: a personal favourite that I had convinced myself he wasn’t going to play.
In terms of special guests, Noah had an amazing line up. He invited Gracie Abrams back onto the stage for “Everywhere, Everything” where despite my past comments, both their voices were amazing and performed the song perfectly. For “Call Your Mom”, a famously emotional song, he invited “Sailor Song” singer Gigi Perez onto the stage who had performed previously that afternoon: her voice perfectly complemented Noah’s for a song they demanded everyone recorded and sent to their mothers, which was a lovely touch. Finally, the biggest surprise: Lewis Capaldi, who had previously taken a short break from his music career, joined Noah on stage for his penultimate song “Northern Attitude”. The excitement amongst the crowd was an amazing sight and it was lovely to see Lewis performing again, and what appears to be a strong friendship between the two artists.
The entire audience throughout the day, despite being exhausted, way too hot and slightly drunk by the end of the night, were consistently enthusiastic, supportive and friendly to the artists as well as the staff at the event and their fellow audience members. Despite getting home and passing out from exhaustion straight away, I had the best experience and would definitely recommend seeing any future Noah Kahan concerts and also any BST Hyde Park concerts next summer!
Image Credit: BST Hyde Park
