Seeing Noah Kahan was a dream come true!
He said
Yes, we are here again late to deadline, but we hope you’ll excuse it with cause as last night we were enjoying life together as a family, making the kind of memories that will last a lifetime. We were at a Noah Kahan concert in Toronto last night—one that Danielle and Emelia specifically were looking forward to since February when we got tickets. And I won’t lie, while I am also a fan of his music, I was just as excited to continue this family’s journey which has been deeply seated in music having brought Emelia to music festivals as early two years old and keeping that history alive with us ever since. So soaking this moment all together as a family was as important as seeing Noah live.
But, yesterday also was the first day of a week off work for me and vacation for Danielle & I together where we will spend it up at the trailer. It will be our longest visit here this camping season and we are so excited about the prospect of a week of taking it easy up here at the trailer. But even better is our longstanding friend Dawn and our mutual friend Tim who is visiting from LA is stopping in for an overnight visit hang that gets Dawn out of Toronto and up here to our slice of ‘cottage life’. They’ve rented one of the cabins so we will have an evening of hanging with them around the campfire and catching up. They will head back to Toronto some time tomorrow afternoon so Tim can take in more of the big smoke. It will be so great to see the both of them as it has been a while.
Now, back to the concert… Danielle & Emelia had a close connection over Noah’s music. He exploded on TikTok over Covid and they both immediately connected with it as Noah has transparently shared his mental health issues openly. But also his lyrics just come from an honest place that we all appreciate. So, it was a no brainer when the concert was announced that we were going as a family. It ended up being a magical, beautiful summer night in an outdoor venue that allowed us to watch the sunset and the moon rise over Toronto while Noah spilled his unique honesty on us. The highlight of the night for me was watching Emelia & Danielle belt out the lyrics to their favourite songs and just enjoy an amazing night that will stick with this family for a long, long time.
My connection to music started with growing up with two older bothers who were always in bands playing music. Then, my younger brother followed suit. I was the one who played the hockey stick. But, I never missed the chance to go see them play live or to connect over our shared love of the bands who tilted our worlds. My only hope in life when Emelia came along was that Dnaielle could pass that along to her. My only hope for her is that she is happy and that she would grow up knowing how music will carry her through anything—even the tough moments.
And I think we have done that.
She said
After a really crazy week at work the weekend finally arrived and a much needed break from reality. In February I took on the Ticketmaster war and won! We were able to secure tickets to see Noah Kahan for his only show in Toronto. Noah is a musician that Emelia and I have connected with since covid. He is very open about his mental health challenges and a lot of his music speaks to that, not only speaking openly about depression, anxiety and suicide. He has deeply resonated with me and especially Emelia who was really struggling a lot during covid and is always in a constant balance and battle. We have always been open about mine and Emelia’s personal battles as well and my mum. So Noah really means a lot to us personally.
When the tickets went on sale I ordered the tickets and the countdown started. Yesterday we left in the early afternoon so we could navigate this new venue. We had been warned that the Rogers Stadium is a bit of a shit-show navigating. And I am going to say they were not wrong. Getting in was a bit of a trek—but doable. Getting out at the end, that is another story altogether…
We were able to get to our seats early enough to enjoy the second opening act. Emelia was thrilled and she is a pretty big fan of Gigi Perez. She is an incredible artist who like Noah blew up on TikTok during covid. It was a great start of the show. But the real act was Noah. It was the most amazing show, everyone was singing from start to finish and the light up wrist bands on all the attendees made the whole night magical. There is really something magical about seeing an artist outside, watching the sunset, seeing the moon rise and under the stars. We have brought Emelia to countless music festivals, John and I have been to countless concerts in our 35 years together but last night is a night I won’t ever forget. Emelia is at the age that she would rather be with her friends and sharing these memories with them but the fact that as soon as Noah’s tour was announced she asked to go with us made this moment a core memory that I will cherish forever.