Noah Kahan headlined Rolling Stone’s inaugural Stateside music festival in Kingston, New York over the weekend, marking the music magazine’s first time using its branding for a music festival
With a sold-out crowd of 4,000 in attendance, Stateside was a notable underplay for Kahan, who will play four sold-out nights at Boston’s Fenway Park this week. He was preceded on the main stage by upcoming singer-songwriter Gigi Perez, whose set was cut a bit short due to a thunderstorm. While the storm halted the festival for about 90 minutes, Kahan still managed to play a 75-minute Fourth of July set that included his hits “Stick Season,” “Dial Drunk” and “Great Divide.”
Fitting for an Independence Day show, Stateside leaned toward folk, Americana, rock and country and also featured sets from the likes of Sydney Rose, Arcy Drive, Bo Staloch, and Bebe Stockwell. Also on the bill were H Ingram, Derby, Michaela Anne, Calder Allen, and Devon Gilfillian.
For Rolling Stone, Stateside has the music magazine using its branding to establish more revenue streams beyond traditional print and digital income. While Stateside is Rolling Stone’s first festival that had the magazine’s namesake, the company has delved into live events already, having purchased Las Vegas’s Life is Beautiful music festival back in 2022.
Aside from playing the festival, Kahan was Rolling Stone’s June cover star as well.
Stateside was just the latest in a particularly busy year for Kahan, whose star continues to grow. He released his lauded fourth album The Great Divide back in April, and he released a Netflix documentary, Noah Kahan: Out of Body, this year as well.
Editorial Note: Rolling Stone is a subsidy of Penske Media Corporation, the same parent company of The Hollywood Reporter.