As Gracie Abrams walked across the stage of the Greek Theatre on Monday, the outstretched arms of the pit dwellers looked like flames licking the hem of her sheer black maxi skirt. But despite the stifling heat of the night, she bent down to touch the fire.
He stood up and put his hand to his heart, as if he wanted to keep the warmth there.
The first of three hometown shows on Abrams’ Secret of Us tour, Monday’s sold-out event saw plenty of intimate moments between the 25-year-old singer-songwriter and her fans. It’s an Abrams pattern that hasn’t changed from her earliest live shows to her opening sets last summer on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. throws kissesShe takes her hands and whispers “I love you” softly, all with the sincerity of a close friend.
“This is a real thing for me,” Abrams told attendees at the show on Monday. “This relationship means a lot to me and I mean it when I say that I try to incorporate their generosity into my songs and stories.”
While other artists might find highly personal emails and unsolicited revelations from fans inappropriate or just plain annoying, for Abrams it’s a reminder that “at the end of the day, we’re all going through the same shit.” It keeps her honest and keeps her writing.
So while he wasn't planning on releasing new music so soon after dropping his debut album, “Good Riddance,” in 2023, he had another album on his hands before he knew it.
Released on June 21, “The Secret of Us” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, behind Taylor Swift's “The Tortured Poets Department,” with 89,000 equivalent album units, becoming Abrams' first top 10 album and her highest-charting album.
When pre-sales launched in June for the Secret of Us tour, the solo date in Los Angeles originally scheduled for Sept. 11 sold out within an hour, so Abrams booked a second slot for Sept. 12 and, later, a third that became the L.A. opening night. Olivia Rodrigo, “Twisters” star Daisy Edgar-Jones and “Bridgerton” alum Phoebe Dynevor were among those in attendance.
Gracie Abrams stars.
(Lauren Tepfer)
The show, which lasted just under two hours, began with the album’s opening track, “Felt Good About You,” a folksy number whose jaunty tambourine gives it the feel of a tune from an indie film soundtrack. Though Abrams performed the song from behind a semi-transparent screen, her stage presence was palpable as her silhouette swayed to the beat.
Abrams made her way to center stage and strapped on an acoustic guitar with a star-print strap to perform “Risk,” the lead single from “The Secret of Us.” She was thrilled when fans screamed the lyrics back at her, and even during the scathing “Blowing Smoke,” she couldn’t suppress her smiles.
Later, she threw herself into duetting with audience members, offering them her microphone for the lyrical choruses of “21,” “I Love You, I’m Sorry” and “Mess It Up.” At the same time, she showed off her vocal control, much improved since her last headlining tour. Trading the shorter, lower notes of such poignant tracks as “Where Do We Go Now?” and “Gave You I, Gave You I” for longer, higher notes, she elicited gasps from even the least expressive concertgoers. (A security guard was filming at one point.)
For Monday's “surprise song,” A relic of his time studying with SwiftAbrams brought her best friend, roommate and “The Secret of Us” co-writer Audrey Hobert onstage. After some gushing back-and-forth, the two performed a duet on the unreleased song “That’s So True,” exchanging dramatic expressions as they sang, “Smiling through it all, yeah, that’s my life.” Blending youthful lyrics with adult themes, the song manifests Abrams’ simultaneous concern with adolescence and her position beyond it, something she also shares with Swift.
After a stripped-down “Good Luck Charlie” came a series of songs whose live production elements, in addition to exemplifying Abrams’s growing sense of joy as a performer, greatly enhanced their studio versions. “Friend,” a soft-pop B-side from Abrams’s debut EP, “minor,” for example, benefited from the addition of distorted synths. And “Normal Thing,” a swelling song from Abrams’s latest album, was transformed by a wrenching drum build.
In contrast, the live versions of “Feels Like” and “Free Now” (the set closer) left fans wanting more, with the sped-up version of the former particularly criticized. onlineStill, any discontent was quickly quelled by a spectacular encore.
After taking the stage again to deliver a dynamic performance of “Us,” complete with Swift’s vocals on a backing track, Abrams officially closed out LA Night 1 with the song fans have been begging him to release for seven years.
Fans wearing headbands watch the Gracie Abrams concert at the Greek Theatre on Monday.
(Lauren Tepfer)
“Close to You,” a synth-pop “earworm” — as Abrams calls it — about feverish longing for someone, was her best-performing single at the time of its release, garnering more than 3 million streams in its first day on Spotify and peaking at No. 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100, her first solo entry on the chart.
“Okay, ready?” Abrams smirked at the crowd as the song faded out. By the time the pre-chorus hit, half the stadium was up in the air.
As the song progressed and teenage girls in headbands and lace skirts appeared on the screen, Abrams's plea for closeness seemed directed more at them than at unrequited love.
