After suffering a vocal injury that prompted the cancellation of her New York shows and rescheduling of her Philadelphia shows, rising star Gracie Abrams triumphantly returned to the stage at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway for a sold-out show on Oct. 9. Her Boston shows arrive towards the end of her The Secret of Us Tour and an overall whirlwind year where Abrams earned her first Grammy nomination and spent time on the road with her friend Taylor Swift as an opening act on the Eras Tour.
Despite her recent success, like many female artists who write personal, confessional songs about love, relationships and loss, Abrams is often condemned to the “sad-girl pop” label and criticized on social media for her “whispery” singing style. Classifying Abrams under this stylistic umbrella undermines her talent and is simply not true — and her Boston show is a testament to that.
The opening of “Felt Good About You” (2024), sung off stage, built anticipation for Abrams, and the crowd was already deafening even with the artist out of sight. Holding a guitar and sporting a Boston Red Sox cap singing the second track, “Risk” (2024), Abrams's voice filled the venue, becoming louder with each chorus as fans shouted the lyric “classic.”
Early highlights of Abrams’s set were “21” (2021) and “I Love You, I’m Sorry” (2024). For the latter, a staple of the artist’s catalog, Abrams interacted with fans across the stage as they echoed “Sorry,” a line for which the song has become known, proving that even three years later it is still a fan favorite. It was an emotional, captivating performance and Abrams’s vocals truly shined on the bridge and the note change on the lyric “Lay on the horn to prove that it haunts me,” which went viral from a performance in early October.
In the same nature as Swift, Abrams has opted to include two surprise songs at each of her tour stops — with one of the two being unreleased. “That’s So True,” which will officially release on Friday with the deluxe edition of her album, has a similar uptempo feel to “Risk,” and the sassy, slightly petty lyrics like “But I know what I know and you're just another dude” make for the perfect song to scream about your ex. “Augusta” (2021) was Abrams’ second surprise song, which fans could likely have predicted given the first line of the song is “Feel like maybe I might go to Boston.”
While Abrams still had her Portland show and rescheduled shows to go, this Boston stop was the last for her opener Role Model. To celebrate, the two sang a duet of “Feels Like” (2022) with their voices meshing beautifully and the two of them looking like they were having the best time. After the song, Abrams brought Role Model a tiara, flowers and mini trophy for being the “the sexiest man on tour” — a reference to Role Model’s nomination for People’s “Sexiest Musician Alive.”
The concluding pair of “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” (2020) and “Free Now” (2024) felt like a full circle moment. “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” was performed solely by Abrams on the piano, and the simplicity of it was reminiscent of her early touring days — intimate, emotional and raw. “Free Now” seemingly captured the ‘new’ Abrams. Long are the days of whispery singing accusations, as Abrams's voice echoed in the venue, and the bridge showcased not only her mature vocals but also her clever lyricism with lines like “Feel you deep in my bones, you're the current” and “It's a shame that I memorized your outline.”
For the encore, Abrams situated herself at the piano singing the first verse and pre-chorus of “us.” (2024), her collaboration with Swift. Leaving the piano with her voice getting louder, Abrams sang the chorus with an intensity and emotion not felt on the original track, turning the microphone to the crowd for Swift’s lines to turn the song into an interactive duet.
The final song of the night, “Close to You” (2024), felt like the perfect closer, as it showed Abrams’s love for her fans. Abrams first said, “This song in particular would not exist without you” to the crowd, nodding to fans’ frequent pestering that eventually led to her releasing the song. The song is high-energy, and Abrams screaming the line “close to you” after a nearly 2-hour concert just felt right.
The Secret of Us Tour marked my fourth time seeing Abrams perform — previous shows being the Boston stop of her previous This Is What It Feels Like tour, her Chicago opening for Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Tour and the same city’s Lollapalooza in 2022. Reflecting on all the past shows, there is no denying the remarkable growth Abrams has accomplished. Her stage presence and vocals have become stronger, her creativity in her setlist and stage production are at a level not seen prior and she still retains the ability to connect with her fans even going from 500-person to 5,000-person venues.
