Concert Review - Gracie Abrams - Auckland - 29th April 2025

Presented By Frontier Touring

Gracie Abrams Live in Concert Auckland Photo Credit Abby Waisler

Review By: Sarah Kidd

Artist/Band: Gracie Abrams Supported by Ashe

Venue/City: Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand

Date of Event: Tuesday 29th April 2025

A cold, damp evening was never going to stop the sea of predominantly female fans, bows adorning their hair and ‘21’ written on the backs of their hands from making their way to Spark Arena last night for not one but two international superstars.
Not only was Gracie Abrams appearing in New Zealand for the first time, but in support was none other than Ashe; a fellow American singer-songwriter whose style is remarkably similar to that of the headliner herself.

Arriving to enthusiastic applause, Ashe took no time at all to have the crowd eating out of her hand as the more eager sang to every word of her set. Supported by a live band, who accompanied her perfectly without ever stealing the spotlight, Ashe danced along the stage in a long flowing dress, her blonde tresses bouncing around her shoulders.

Regaling the audience with several of her own tracks, the screams of delight only got louder as she began to sing ‘You’re on Your Own, Kid’ by Taylor Swift. It fits well in many ways with the rest of her music which for Ashe was a cathartic way of dealing with her divorce, her words stripping the situation she found herself in back to the bare bone and exposing her wounds for all to see. Doubling down on the momentum she finished her set with both ‘Save Myself’ and her biggest hit ‘Moral of the Story,’ a bittersweet song about the reality of misguided love.
By the time that Gracie Abrams arrived, Spark Arena was vibrating, everyone – even those in the seated sections – were on their feet as the stage slowly came to life before their eyes. The four piece band consisting of Gabe Smith on drums, Cooper Cowgill on bass, guitarist Elle Puckett and keyboardist Casey Kalmenson, began to build the mood with the opening notes of “Felt Good About You’, smoke billowing around their feet and cascading off the edge.

Situated in the middle, to both their left and right were staircases leading to a second level which had a black metal frame hung above it, and there was where Gracie Abrams first appeared, the subtle lighting catching her dress as she moved in the shadows.
Soon coming down to the front, the fans gasped at how stunning her dress truly was, the glittering silver sequins of the floor length gown emitting tiny rainbows as each one caught the spotlights, a beautiful beige silk bow adorning her left shoulder. But in stark contrast and proving just how down to earth she is, Abrams was barefoot, and she remained that way throughout the entirety of the night.

Moving into ‘Risk’ and ‘Blowing Smoke,’ anthems amongst her legions, Abrams quickly followed them up with ‘21’, hundreds of people euphorically squealing and turning their cameras around to film themselves singing the words, the 2020 track obviously huge amongst her followers considering the amount of t-shirts adorned with said number.

Allowing everyone to catch their breath, the twenty-five-year-old Californian paused to tell all how thrilled she was to be here for the first time and that in the short week that she had been residing in Auckland she had come to understand why New Zealand was just so special.
Thanking Ashe for opening and expressing her love and admiration for her fellow artist she ended by stating that she hoped each and every person left the arena with as much love and light in their heart that their presence gave her.

The saccharine levels were running high, but it is one of the main reasons that Abrams is so popular. Throughout the night she was constantly blowing kisses, waving to individuals, or enlisting the help of security to pass phones up from the front row so that she could make videos and in turn some lucky attendees’ year. Gifts that were held out to her, were taken, hugged, and lovingly placed on the staircase beside her. It is this realness that draws people in, her playful interactions with the cameras trained on her, making even those in the very back rows feel as if she was singing to them and them alone.

Combine that with lyrics that speak from the heart of love found and love lost and all the complex emotions that come with the journey, and you have a recipe for success and a loyal squad of devotees that will memorise every word you write just to feel closer to you.
Leaning heavily into this side of her lyricism, ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry,’ and ‘Gave You I Gave You I’ had those present almost in tears of overwhelming joy; ‘Mess it Up’ giving them a chance to unleash as they shouted key lines back at Abrams every time she pointed the microphone at them.

Abrams is certainly not an artist who relies solely on her voice, as she demonstrated throughout the night, often donning an acoustic guitar or sitting at the keyboard. Throughout, the lighting was on point, shades of red cooling into silken violets and muted white spotlights that caught the shimmering backdrop at just the right angles.

The camera work was also phenomenal, the LED screen at the back overlaying visuals of hands with Abrams in the most delicate of ways; or displaying each of the band members in a window frame of a train for the track ‘Tough Love.’ It was no wonder that she took the time to thank not only her band but the production crew around her that made ‘The Secret of Us’ tour what it is.

But undoubtedly the highlight of the evening for most was when Abrams let her fellow musicians take a break while she made her way to the middle of the arena, where an exact replica of her bedroom was on display. Abrams spoke of how this was where she performed her first shows to thousands of supporters watching online as covid had brought live stage shows to a screaming halt.

Taking polaroids of the crowd, she joked of how she had obviously been pranked by a kiwi follower who had told her ‘kick it in the dick’ was a common saying here. As if not to make her feel bad a few members of the audience began serenading her with ‘Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi,’ hundreds more soon joining in, Abrams smiling in elation as they did.
Speaking of how one of the greatest songwriters in her opinion comes from New Zealand, Abrams delivered a stunning cover of Lordes ‘Liability.’ But before performing a second track from her bedroom setting, she spotted a young woman on the barrier with a sign that read ‘My boyfriend broke up with me, Can I have a hug’ and of course she had to comply. Hugging her tightly, she shared a few words before returning to her keyboard and dedicating ‘I Miss You, I’m Sorry’ to her.

Closing her set with her ever popular cover of ‘Us’ by Taylor Swift who she opened for on the Eras tour and ‘Free Now’ which saw her back on guitar it didn’t take long before the crowd were chanting her name and begging for her return.
Of course, everyone was waiting for ‘That’s So True’ a song that even people who don’t know the artist herself would recognise, the arena in full voice as they sang along. Keeping it up-tempo, Gracie Abrams finished with ‘Close to You’ before once more declaring her undying love for all her New Zealand followers and taking a bow with her exceptionally talented band mates.
One thing is for certain, Gracie Abrams is an artist that loves love, and her fans.

SET LIST

Felt Good About You
Risk
Blowing Smoke
21
I Love You, I’m Sorry
Where Do We Go Now?
Gave You I Gave You I
Mess It Up
Friend
Camden
Normal Thing
I Told You Things
Let It Happen
Tough Love
Liability – Cover Lorde
I Miss You, I’m Sorry
Us – Cover Taylor Swift
Free Now
That’s So True – Encore
Close To You – Encore

Gracie Abrams The Secret of Us Tour Poster 2025

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