By the time Noah Kahan arrived onstage in Kingston, New York on Saturday, the deluge of rain that poured down on Hutton Brickyards had finally cleared. “We’re gonna play some music that makes you feel just miserable tonight,” he jokingly told the audience.
“We want this to be the fucking most depressing Fourth of July of our lives.” That couldn’t have been further from the truth, as Kahan kicked off a triumphant set to celebrate America’s birthday at Stateside, Rolling Stone’s very first music festival.
Kahan is currently on a massive, sold-out stadium tour, supporting his excellent new album The Great Divide, which debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 chart and landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone. It spans 17 tracks that fans have been itching to hear live, and so far the set lists don’t disappoint. Since the tour kicked off in Orlando on June 11, he’s been opening with the album highlight “American Cars,” which felt especially fitting tonight. Kahan tore into the uptempo rocker wearing a red t-shirt, his hair slicked back in his signature man bun (no Ray-Bans, but we’ll take it). And when he sang “You’re here, and we’re so grateful you are,” you couldn’t help but feel like he was talking to the sold-out crowd of 4000, who had braved the weather and were thrilled to take in Kahan in such an intimate space.
Kahan’s cover story was part of Rolling Stone’s American Icons issue, which featured words by Barack Obama, Ken Burns, Becky G, Monica Lewinsky, and more honoring our nation on its 250th birthday. The celebration continued here at Hutton Brickyards, a historic site that once supplied bricks for American landmarks like the Empire State Building. Kahan’s fans — they’re called Busyheads, after his 2019 debut — wandered the festival grounds in their Kahan merch and cowboy boots, taking in the stunning view of the beach and Hudson River. Festivalgoers swam in a beach on the river, enjoyed free water all day long, checked out exclusive festival merchandise collections, and stopped by vendors that included tons of local food, beverage, as well as face paint (Deb’s Artistic Painting), and Kells Golf Co., who gave free stickers to anyone who sank a putt (Kahan loves to golf). The vibes were laid-back and (even with the rain) pretty immaculate.
Together with Kahan, the Stateside festival donated a portion of each ticket to Kahan’s nonprofit mental-health organization the BusyHead Project, which aims to end the stigma around mental health and improve access to resources. Stateside Festival partnered with Boston Beer Co. to bring Dogfish Head, Sun Cruiser, and Angry Orchard to this year’s event. Hertz joined Stateside as the official car-rental partner, making the journey to Kingston part of the experience. The festival featured Scout Motors as the official automotive partner. At Stateside, Rolling Stone and Scout teamed up to debut “Tailgate Sessions Presented by Scout Motors” — part intimate performance stage, hangout, and discovery space. Designed like a modern Americana garage, the space featured vendors, a custom chain-stitch station, Scout cars patrons could take in, and a stage hosting an array of up-and-coming artists.
Hudson Ingram took the Scout Stage at 1 p.m., clad in jeans, a work shirt and sunglasses and backed by a four-piece band. The 20-year-old combines a boyish charm with something deeper, turning out reflective tunes full of big feelings and sharp storytelling. The son of country singer Jack Ingram — whom, his son announced, was present on Saturday — Ingram played several tunes from his newish EP, The Long Way Home (Vol. 1), which he recorded with Aaron Dessner at Long Pond Studios. “Look How Lonely I Can Be,” which Ingram introduced as a “song about a shitty Nashville day,” turned into a big, swaying waltz, while “Linger” showed off his gentle croon and way with melody. In a moment of serendipity, Sydney Rose, his duet partner on the delicate “Don’t Get Me Started,” was also on the Stateside bill, and she joined Ingram for a lovely version today. “I’m so ready to watch Noah Kahan,” Ingraham said near the end of his set. Fair enough — but there was a lot of good music left in the meantime.
Derby, a.k.a. Craig Caldwell, was a subtle curveball for the day’s lineup. The Houston native often fills his music with R&B-tinged Americana; he can do straightahead roots songs, but often tosses in pitch-shifted vocals and other Frank Ocean-style touches. Dressed in a blue tee, jeans, and big headphones, Caldwell was a genial presence, repeatedly reminding the sunbaked crowd to drink water. Meanwhile, he got a lot out of his sound, despite being backed only by guitar and drums (and, presumably, samples). On songs like, “100°,” from his standout 2025 album Slugger, he mixed up synthy atmospherics and clattering production with lovelorn crooning; “Gold” was a wordy, heartfelt singalong that built into a groove with real momentum. Besides hydration reminders, Caldwell also treated the crowd to several unreleased songs, including a lovely stripped down ballad on which he asked, “Are you with me tonight?” The crowd was with him this afternoon, at least.
Recent Nashville Now guest Michaela Anne and her band took the Scout Stage in the late afternoon, when temperatures were at their warmest. She told the crowd, “I think all my clothes are sticking to me.” The weather and sweat did not deter her or her band. As she played many songs from her new self-released album,These Are The Days, including “We’re All Good,” “…These Are The Days,” and “B-Sides.” In the middle of her set, the Hertz Gold Squad — a team of golden retrievers and their handlers — made their way through the audience to cuddle with concertgoers. Michaela Anne noted that it was her “first time playing in front of golden retrievers.”
Calder Allen brought all of his Texas twang — and charm — to the Scout stage, just as the day reached golden hour. “I’m honored to be here with Rolling Stone,” the country artist told the crowd, humble as ever despite being the grandsonof Texas songwriting legend Terry Allen. Allen lived up to the family name, bringing all the rock & roll energy and Lonestar State mojo to tracks from his latest LP Fault Lines. It was one hell of a vibe as Allen performed “Carry On” in front of the Hudson River, making lyrics like, “Go on down to the river/Explore the ancient land,” ring especially true, just before the rain threatened to kill the vibe. The rain came down, as Allen kept up unmatchable energy, even as a growing downpour forced him to duck behind his suede hat.
As for that rain: It briefly became a downpour. Thankfully, Hutton Brickyards sports a main pavilion that is fully covered, allowing the crowd to wait out the water without getting soaked. The festival halted for 90 minutes, but then the rain stopped, the sun emerged in the distance and it was time to get back to business.
“We made it, we made it!” As the final act of the night at the Scout Stage, Devon Gilfillian kicked off his set by saying exactly what was on everyone’s mind after the 30-minute rain delay: “It’s not too hot now, now we’ve cooled off. Now we can shake, now we can move, now we can get down!” And he did exactly that as he launched into hits like “IRL,” “Troublemaker,” and “Here and Now,” all of which showcase his ability to effortlessly blend nostalgic Nashville, Philly soul, and psychedelic rock. The set helped recover any bit of lost energy as the clouds continued to clear — and proved that the rain was never actually at risk of slowing this festival down.
Earlier in the day, Boston-bred singer-songwriter Bebe Stockwell kicked off the festivities with a full band at the Main Stage. The folk, pop, and soul singer performed several tracks from her new album, Volume 1. Towards the end of the set, Stockwell and her band treated the audience to a rousing cover of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes’ “Home.” Stockwell closed her set with “When You Know,” the lead-in track from Volume 1.
“Thank you — this song came out yesterday,” Bo Staloch said from the Main Stage as the heat climbed. Staloch was diving into his new single, “From a Different Age,” which shows off what he does well: achingly pretty folk-rock tunes that combine a delicate croon, subtly atmospheric kick, and gut-punch choruses, sort of like a more anthemic Bon Iver. “Quiet is the thinking man,” he sang, evincing old-soul spirit. “I fear I’m losing all my friends/We’re from a different age, we don’t act the same.” Backed by guitar, drums, bass and cello, Staloch, a 21-year-old Austin-born, Nashville-based rising star, had control of the crowd, including some diehards up front who knew every word. “Pretty insane to be here at Stateside and in front of all you beautiful people,” he said before “Springtime Red Tulips,” which grows from acoustic lullaby to churning belt (then back again).
As the afternoon moved along, an ever-growing crowd gathered to catch Arcy Drive, the four-piece rock band from Long Island. The band, made up of four members who have known each other since childhood and named their act after the street they grew up on as kids, has been busy on the festival circuit this year. They’ve played Gov Balland Highwater Music Festival, and have plans to hit Bonnaroo and Borderland Festival later this year. All of that means that they’ve perfected an air-tight, high-energy set, which showed when they took the Main Stage on Saturday. They also arrived dressed for July 4, clad in red hats and blue capes and ready to put on a show. Pretty soon, fans were shouting back every line to songs like “The Itch” and “Time Shrinks,” now favorites in their repertoire.
“I’m going to sing some pretty devastating songs tonight,” Sydney Rose warned as she took the Main Stage. “But this one’s happy,” she assured before diving into the whimsical number “You’d Be Stars.” Throughout her whole set, the Georgia-born songwriter tapped into the celestial, her soft croon and heartfelt tracks offering the perfect salve for the sweltering heat. At one point, she even channeled the starshine of Stevie Nicks with a beautiful cover of “Landslide” (complete with gold-dust-inspired hair and a scarf-adorned mic stand). Rose played with an all-female band, on the violin and drums, and they effortlessly moved through the singer-songwriter’s lovelorn discography, as she strummed on a Strat for “Dreams,” and bewitched the crowd from the piano on “Briston.” Rose made the most of her time by debuting brand new song “Track Team,” before closing out with the evocative TikTok hit “We Hug Now.”
After the intense storms, Gigi Perezwas in charge of restarting the show. She was up to the challenge. “The rain and the lightning couldn’t stop us,” she told the crowd before thanking Rolling Stone and the Stateside crew for keeping everyone safe. Perez tore into crisp, amped-up versions of her songs, playing a bulk of tracks from her excellent and gutting debut album At The Beach, In Every Life. With an all-female band and her vocals sharper than ever, the songs were even more powerful live — and Perez packed in surprise too, covering Lana del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” and bringing out her little sister Bella for a duet of “Sugar Water.” She closed out with an extended version of her hit “Sailor Song,” which inspired a careening, emotional singalong to end a truly captivating set.
Then came the headliner. Kahan threw in some Stick Season-era fan favorites, like “She Calls Me Back” and the heartbreak hangover that is “Dial Drunk.” The Great Divide cut “Dashboard” was a thrilling highlight, packed with lyrics practically made for a live setting (“Change your zip code/Turns out that you’re still an asshole”). It was surreal to hear him deliver “Homesick,” particularly the lines “I’m mean because I grew up in New England,” nearly four hours away from his hometown of Strafford, Vermont.
Kahan closed the set with “Stick Season,” his 2022 breakout hit that’s now an anthem for the Northeast. As Kahan told us in his cover story, he’s content with playing “Stick Season” for the rest of his life. “I’m here for the fans,” he said. “I’m at peace with whatever that song means for me, for the rest of my career.” As Kahan wrapped his set and Stateside’s fireworks erupted into the sky, it’s safe to say this Fourth of July was anything but depressing.
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