Oliver R. Moore-Howells speaks to musician and YouTuber NoahFinnce who has become something of an online beacon for the young LGBTQ+ community – before getting along to his packed-out gig at Cardiff’s Globe.
Despite being a low-budget production, tonight’s live show for NoahFinnce at The Globe in Cardiff was a feel-good, pop-punk mash-up full of vim and vigour – with some startling surprises to boot. Naturally, the giant rat rushing the stage to mosh with musicians was a little unexpected, as was the long, meandering queue stretching from the entrance towards the end of the street. After all, it’s not very often one sees this kind of turnout for a gig on Albany Road.
And tonight, the fuss is all for an artist named Noah Finn Adams and known as NoahFinnce: a successful YouTuber, musician and unintentional mini-superstar for the LGBTQ+ community. ‘‘It’s nice to see someone else who’s like me – I’m trans. And it’s nice seeing someone who’s successful who’s also trans,’’ says one fan, decked out in Kiss facepaint, waiting patiently.
Having spoken to Noah ahead of the live show, he tells Buzz his level of success came rather unexpectedly; his adjustment to it all, however, being taken very much in his stride. “I’m always absolutely fine when I’m on stage but it’s just the, like, 10 minutes… five minutes… two minutes before that really winds me up – it’s the waiting.”
This will be his Welsh live debut, Noah says. “I don’t think I’ve been to Cardiff before. I’ve been to a bunch of Wales before and I’ve no idea what parts. I used to do Duke Of Edinburgh at school… It’ll be nice to see what it’s like!” As for various parts of the country, does he notice the cultural differences?
“Definitely. Listening to people sing along to my songs in a Scottish accent is very different. Also, when we went offstage and came on for an encore, the first time people were shouting ‘one more tune! one more tune!’ instead of ‘one more song!’ That was fun!”
Starting his musical adventure on Instagram with a fan page for My Chemical Romance, which later morphed into a generic page for all things emo, Noah says he began posting guitar and vocal covers but soon switched to YouTube due to Instagram’s limited 15 second video uploads. Despite this, he never had any aims to become a Youtuber or influencer. However, it was his cover of I Don’t Know My Name by Grace VanderWaal (of America’s Got Talent fame) that really blew up, garnering one million views during the week of the AMT final. With success coming unexpectedly, he decided, he says, to just go with it.
Tonight at the gig, it’s clear to see how he’s now got his foot firmly in the door, with even the support acts hyping him up ready for his eventual appearance. Kicking off with a raw, punk sound and raucous attitude, their guitars turned all the way up to 11, The Oozes, displaying their LGBTQ+ identity proudly, joyfully, if inelegantly, bounce along the stage. Following on, Sophie Powers – a more polished American artist with a commercial rebellion-rock vibe akin to the post-Hannah Montana, post-twerking Miley Cyrus – stomps the boards, taking the gig up a notch.
Many in the crowd here are decidedly under 18, with The Globe this evening a safe space to be whatever you want to be – apart from intoxicated. “Sorry, we’re not serving alcohol tonight,” says the barman, likely causing a few heads to turn in confusion. Just as well, perhaps – how often has the liquid courage turned a good night into a bad one? And in a fairly small, crowded space like this, its absence is no loss. The feelgood pop-punk is fuel enough.
Building to the main act, a reverbed whale-like siren sound rings out, followed by the Scooby-Doo theme tune – a calling card, one presumes, for NoahFinnce’s grand entrance. Likely the first concert some here have experienced, the crowd’s expectation and excitement are palpable. The stage design consists of a large white bedsheet featuring Noah’s name and cartoon graphics of diamonds, hearts, stars and crowns. Meanwhile, fans at the front wave miniature rainbow flags in time with the music.
Speaking of hearts, Noah opens up and talks candidly to Buzz about his own trans journey, its difficulties, joys and the ability to be able to express oneself. “I wasn’t out as trans when I was at school. I knew when I finished I was going to come out and transition.” As to knowing when he knew, however, he’s less certain.
“It’s kind of a difficult question to answer. My entire life I knew something was up! When I was five, I would tell kids on the playground my name was Alex and that I was a boy. I’d dress up in boy’s clothes and tell my parents I wanted a boy haircut, which they were happy with. So I always knew that aspect of myself but didn’t really know what trans was until I was like 14.
“I came out to everyone when I was 17 and had finished school, but told close friends on the internet when I was 14 or 15. Nobody was surprised – I’d always get mistaken for a boy. My first day of school, my chemistry teacher was like, ‘oh, there’s no girls in the class,’ and everyone was like, ‘no sir, she’s a girl’.”
Whereupon, Noah says, the teacher then made him stand up to reveal he was wearing a skirt, and even then didn’t believe him. “So no one was surprised… and everyone has been really supportive. Except a few people who have since apologised.”
Enduring an especially homophobic school atmosphere, unable to transition, was a real hurdle. “Life didn’t really start until I did come out and transition,” Noah recalls. “I was just waiting for a time to be able to be myself.” Even going out or picking up the phone-induced panic attacks; only upon receiving testosterone and undergoing surgery, resulting in his voice getting deeper, did he feel more confident.
Seeing him here tonight, then, certainly backs up his claims of greater self-assurance. At ease with the crowd, and playing with a spring in his step, he evokes images of a young Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day – and NoahFinnce’s songs aren’t too far from that ballpark either. Yet to release an album, his set comes in around an hour including the encore, and includes previously released tunes from Worms and Asthma Attack, to new single, LALALA and the final, heart-thumping Stupid, which sends this crowd home on a high.
On the evidence of this great live show and its rapturous reception, NoahFinnce might well be the music star many in the trans community have been waiting for. His music, though, goes beyond that, transcending boundaries and likely appealing to non-LGBTQ+ rock and pop-punk fans alike.
NoahFinnce, The Globe, Cardiff, Thurs 15 Sept
words OLIVER R. MOORE-HOWELLS
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