“You guys ready to feel like absolute s— tonight?” asked Noah Kahan with a knowing smirk. “You came to the right place.”

Except, the 40,000 fans inside Chicago’s Wrigley Field, all of whom braved a heat wave, came for an entirely different reason — and Kahan knew it. 

When he sang “Dashboard” during the second of two sold-out nights at the baseball stadium, particularly during the line “you always went looking for an easy out,” a fan declared to their friend: “that’s me.” And when he wrapped the show with his downer-turned-upper of a hit “Stick Season,” couples in the crowd couldn’t help but joyously dance along, smiles plastered on their faces as fireworks erupted.

Earlier in the set, after performing his masterful “Orbiter,” Kahan even called his own bluff, admitting that he knows many came to not feel like s— – or at least, to feel camaraderie in it. “To be able to look out into the crowd and see how happy you all are and connected you are makes me feel like there’s a point,” he shared.

For Kahan, that point has only sharpened in recent years. By more or less singing about the times he has felt like s— , Kahan has built a fast-growing fandom that feels seen, heard and guided by the folk rocker. And if his third album, 2022’s Stick Season, catapulted him into a different league, then this year’s epic 21-track The Great Divide helped him become MVP.

There is genuine value in Kahan’s music that comes across even more in a live setting where its impact is tangible. Where families go together and sing about generational trauma right alongside Kahan; where couples grin to “All My Love” (perhaps blissfully ignoring that it’s about an ex); or where friends scream-sing “you’re an asshole, after all” with their heads tossed back, surely envisioning someone who has taken up too much mental space.

So, despite the fact that Kahan cautioned fans would feel like s— during his two-and-a-half hour set,  and even though The Great Divide itself is a stunning if not saddening listen, this tour is anything but. And that’s what makes it feel so special. No matter the devastating depth of Kahan’s songs, when performed live they become bigger than the topic at hand. And as a result, The Great Divide Tour is actually a place to put feeling like s–t on pause – and instead, as Kahan said himself, feel happy and connected.

Read below for the five best moments from Kahan’s second show (July 15) at Wrigley Field.