Gracie Abrams – Rod Laver Arena
Photo Credit: Abby Waisler
Gracie Abrams returns to Melbourne with a bedroom full of feelings
Back for the second of three sold-out shows at Rod Laver Arena, Gracie Abrams transformed the stadium into an evening of loud feelings, quiet confessions, and shared connection. Returning to Melbourne with her The Secret of Us tour, the show marked a huge step up from her last run of shows in 2024; with a setlist of tracks from her latest album, old fan favourites, and a few unexpected surprises.
Opening the evening was Ashe, who was last here performing at Max Watt’s in 2022. Now stepping onto the stage at a packed arena, it was a fitting full-circle moment. From the opening notes of Running Out Of Time, the crowd was instantly with her giving everything they had. Another Man’s Jeans had them singing along at full volume, followed closely by an emotional performance of Angry Woman. Before Please Don’t Fall in Love with Me, she joked, ‘My first job is to get you warmed up. My second job is to get you to fall in love with me.’
Cherry Trees and Hope You’re Not Happy followed, the latter introduced with ‘Some songs are about closure and wishing people the best – this is not that song.’ Pull the Plug had fans dancing all the way to the back, while Save Myself and Taylor kept the energy high. A heartfelt cover of Couldn’t Make It Any Harder by Sabrina Carpenter led into Till Forever Falls Apart, before she wrapped up her set with Moral of the Story, the crowd screaming every word. ‘Night two was better than night one,’ she exclaimed as she left the stage – setting the tone for the night ahead.
When the lights went down, Gracie Abrams appeared behind a glowing screen to open with Felt Good About You. She stepped forward for Risk – one of the catchiest tracks from her latest album – pausing mid-song to shout ‘Melbourne!’ The scream in response said it all. Blowing Smoke followed, as you could hear every single person in the arena singing at the top of their voices. The opening notes of 21 were met with loud cheers from her adoring fans.
Before I Love You, I’m Sorry, she addressed the crowd properly. ‘Hi Melbourne. My name is Gracie Abrams, welcome to The Secret of Us tour.’ Reflecting on the love she’s felt from Australian fans since her last visit, she continued, ‘This tour has felt like pure magic to me for about a million reasons…I’ve been dying to see your faces again.’ Describing specifically Melbourne fans as one big, welcoming friend group, she invited the audience to perform the next track as a duet.
Where Do We Go Now? came next, before she moved to the piano for a moving performance of Gave You I Gave You I and Mess It Up – taking time to receive some gifts from her fans and ending with blowing a kiss towards the crowd. ‘I love it here so much’, she said after Friend. ‘At the top of the show, I got chills.’ Camden was a late addition to the set; added, she said, because fans had asked. Introducing her band as her heroes, we next heard Normal Thing with clouds of smoke drifting beautifully across the stage. I Told You Things and Let It Happen had Gracie back on acoustic guitar. Tough Love, one of our favourites from the latest album, closed out this portion of the set before moving to the B-stage in the middle of the crowd.
The second, smaller stage made to look like the bedroom she wrote most of her earlier works was a chance to connect further with the audience and her fans. Talking almost one on one to thousands of people, Gracie spoke about everything from the livestreams where she launched her career on Zoom during covid, to the times spent writing her albums in her room. Taking Polaroids of the audience to remember later, and even shouting out Mark ‘the local bagel guy’, we heard her perform better and Mean It – the first song she ever wrote. Ending this intimate part of the set with I Miss You, I’m Sorry, the audience embraced the intimacy, taking their chance to connect with the artist and a moment to take it all in.
The final portion of the evening returned to the main stage for us. and Free Now as she closed by saying, ‘We love you so, so much Melbourne’. The encore saw her return with That’s So True, prompting one of the biggest singalongs of the night, before Close to You wrapped things up. ‘This show would not exist without you,’ she said. ‘Melbourne, you’re just magical.’ And with a final wave, she left us with one last line: ‘Miss you already’.