Gracie Abrams, the singer-songwriter known for her emotional and poetic songwriting, came to Washington, D.C. on October 9 to perform the “The Secret of Us” Tour.
The Anthem, a concert hall at the Wharf, hosted fans that evening, as well as the opening act, a singer-songwriter that goes by the name “ROLE MODEL”. While Abrams’ performance was enjoyable, the opening act made a great impression on the audience. Personally, my favorite song he performed was “Superglue” which was a part of his album “Kansas Anymore”.
Abrams put on a great show and performed twenty-three songs that were featured on her earlier albums, extended plays, and singles. This, however, was not the first time Abrams has appeared on the stage as she has previously toured before spotlighting her first album “Good Riddance”. Abrams has also appeared on stage while opening for the familiar female artists Olivia Rodrigo during her “SOUR Tour” and for Taylor Swift during “The Eras Tour”.
“The Secret of Us” Tour is scheduled to visit multiple locations around the world as Abrams will be performing outside the United States at the beginning of next year. Abrams’ show in Washington D.C. was the sixteenth show of the first leg of the overall world tour.
On June 24, Abrams released her sophomore album “The Secret of Us” including thirteen songs capturing her experiences when falling in and out of love. The album is written by Abrams herself and features co-writing from her best friend Audrey and Aarron Dessner. The fifth song on the album is entitled “us.” which features the groundbreaking artist Taylor Swift, who played a role in writing the track.
The atmosphere of the Wharf was filled with excitement, the waterfront outside the venue was crowded with fans lining up just to get inside. Senior Christa Konath said “It was so much fun, everyone was so excited and you could tell who was going to the Gracie concert. Everyone was wearing bows and were dressed all cute.”
Within the Anthem, multiple stands sold tour merchandise and the venue also contained several bars, bathrooms, and upper levels of seating. The main level consisted of the stage and the pit for general admission, where a majority of fans were.
The sold out show began at 9 p.m., Abrams kicked off the night with the first three songs off her latest album including “Felt Good About You”, “Risk”, and “Blowing Smoke”.
Most of Abrams’ music is softly sung all while delivering words and phrases clearly exaggerating the emotions she is conveying. She, however, delivered high ranges of vocals during her slower songs while performing, which appeared completely effortless to Abrams. Senior Riya Khirbat mentioned, “She not only knows how to beautifully sing songs, but how to engage the audience and crowd in her concerts, making them feel heard”.
Within the transition from one song to the next, Abrams would take the time to converse with her fans, take pictures, and discuss the story behind a song she has written. For example, her song “Feels Like” was inspired by her close relationship and friendship with her best friend.
That night, Abrams also discussed the upcoming election, voicing her opinion of how important it is to vote. Abrams labeled the upcoming election to be the most important ballot within her generation. She teamed up with the non-profit organizations: Headcount and Planned Parenthood in order to express the importance of reproductive health and voting. If they wanted, fans could even register to vote at the concert.
One of the songs that received the most response from the crowd was Abrams’ hit song “I Love You, I’m Sorry”, which has recently skyrocketed on social media and on music charts. The crowd was electric and participated in singing along, dancing, and chanting.
Another song, which is similar in name, “I miss you, I’m sorry” also received a strong reaction from the crowd as Abram played it on the piano.
To close out of the concert, Gracie Abrams performed another track from her latest album, the hit “Close to You”. “A lot of the time her songs are more sad or kind of slow, and “Close to You” was just the perfect way to end the concert because it’s so upbeat. Everyone was dancing and jumping up and down. It was a great performance and environment to be in”, Lisa Fedders said excitedly.
In my opinion, Gracie Abrams’ next tour is one you shouldn’t miss. It takes great talent to bring such electricity and a sense of community among people in a venue as small as the Anthem.
A typical artist in this generation would have background dancers on the stage with them, adding to the overall scene of their show. Abrams isn’t the type of artist to have background dancers and she doesn’t need them. The way she sings songs is the type of performance one would want to encounter anytime they watch a musician perform.
Overall, Gracie Abrams has brought comfort and a sense of being understood to her fans as an artist, especially to many students and residents in Urbana. She makes it okay to not be okay, which is an empowering message that resonates to those that are struggling.
So the question is, as she has moved on to her next city, where do we go now?
