Noah Kahan’s stadium-sized folk from “The Great Divide” reaches the rafters of Wrigley Field

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Between a richly distinctive tenor, a folksy sonic palette anchored by stomping acoustic strums and remarkably vulnerable lyrics, Noah Kahan quickly rose from getting discovered online to selling out stadiums.

“Stick Season” was certainly the landmark project to put the New England-area singer/songwriter on the international map, but its reflective and stylistically expanded follow-up, “The Great Divide,” is bound to make him a defining voice of today.

An instantly sold out Wrigley Field was witness to that very fact during the first of two shows (continuing on Wednesday, July 15), where for nearly two-and-a-half-hours, Kahan and a six-piece-band poured every ounce of emotional energy into at least a couple dozen tracks.

Visually speaking, the massive stage was just as striking, replicating an actual wooden-roofed barn and gas station, while beaming plenty of close-ups on the breathtaking, forest-themed big screen to bring the intimacy of his earthy recordings to The Friendly Confines.

The driving rhythms of “American Cars,” “Doors,” “All My Love,” “Deny Deny Deny” and “Staying Still” opened the scene, prior to Kahan getting a little closer down the runway for “Haircut” and “Downfall.”

He continued swapping locations and sonic tones, toggling the bangin’ likes of “She Calls Me Back” and “Dial Drunk,” alongside the stripped down nature of “Willing And Able” and “Porch Light” performed seated atop the home-like set.

A segment on a mid-field platform made those seated further feel all the more involved, including “Orbiter,” “Call Your Mom” and “Paid Time Off” evoking his earliest Chicago days of playing tiny yet renown places like Schubas Tavern.

Subject-wise, Kahan ranged from coming to terms with sudden fame, family dynamics, candid mental health struggles and various aspects of small-town life surrounding an upbringing in Strafford, Vermont, resulting in a cathartic release for not only the headliner, but anyone who could relate as they screamed along.

It all reached a pinnacle throughout “Orange Juice” and the locally-tweaked “New Perspective” into encores “End Of August,” “Homesick” and “Stick Season,” the latter few fleshed out with a horn section and extended to include a fireworks finale that symbolically matched the meteoric rise of this once-in-a-generation superstar.

For additional information on Noah Kahan, visit NoahKahan.com.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation concerts, visit LiveNation.com.

For a list of upcoming shows at Wrigley Field, visit MLB.com/Cubs/Tickets/Concerts.