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Review & setlist: Gracie Abrams charms sold-out Garden with catchy, if not especially exciting, pop ballads
Pop’s newest princess and TikTok darling delivered a vocally layered performance, but saved the real thrills for the end.
Gracie Abrams, with Djo, at TD Garden, Boston, Wednesday, July 23.
Pop’s newest princess and TikTok darling Gracie Abrams opened the next leg of her tour in Boston, where she delivered her young fans a vocally layered performance, if a bit boring.
Abrams is back in Boston for the second time in less than a year for her The Secret of Us Deluxe Tour, marking her first show this year state-side. Abrams, who is the daughter of director J.J. Abrams, added another TD Garden show due to demand, selling out both Wednesday and Thursday at the arena.
Djo, also known as “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery, a Newburyport native, opened for the pop star, replacing her previous opener. Role Model, another TikTok stand-out, dropped out to film a Lena Dunham movie.
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When Abrams took the stage, the screams were overwhelming. Adolescent girls, most with Abrams’s emblematic long-tailed bows in their hair, literally overcame the sound system. (Gracie herself has left the bows behind in favor of, in Boston, a short bob and long bows on her shoulders.)
Through “Risk” and “Blowing Smoke,” the fans were heard over the star, and some unfortunate mixing with the drums covered her even more. During “21,” the mix was better, but the fans were voracious.
Abrams’s music is catchy pop, but she straddles between acoustic singer-songwriter and pop ballad powerhouse. Her breathy vocals are sometimes heavily layered, which, at TD Garden, contrasted with her sometimes husky, intimate emotional performances.
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Her album that launched her to stardom, “The Secret of Us,” not only has Taylor Swift influences — it has Swift herself as a feature. The album was co-written by Aaron Dessner of “The National,” who was also behind Swift’s acclaimed “Folklore.” Swift and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff (think Lorde, Lana del Rey, and Sabrina Carpenter) were also credited.
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At TD Garden, Abrams struggled to move beyond Swift protege. In addition to the style of music and a Swift shout-out, her show featured old videos of Abrams filming in her bedroom and stylized film reels that looked like 2015-era Boomerang videos, reminiscent of Swift’s nostalgic approach.
Abrams repeatedly mentioned wanting to give a prepared speech, and she eventually took out her personal journal to read some remarks she had prepared. It felt as though it might get political, but the artist, who is Jewish and has voiced support for Palestine, spoke more about community.
“It’s been pretty nonstop for the past four years, and it’s all been because of you. It feels complicated that we get to have this when the entire planet is on fire,” she said. “Our inherent dignity is not negotiable, no matter where we come from, who we love, the color of our skin.”
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Abrams dropped the guitar strumming for “Where do we go now?” and hit her stride vocally by “I Told You Things.”
Most of her speeches were repetitious. Abrams loves her fans, a lot, and she waved at them during most songs. She dedicated “Augusta” to fan Lucy, who was at the front.
“I feel like I know you,” Abrams said about Lucy, who had been to multiple shows, even though they didn’t know each other personally, she said.
But Lucy wasn’t the only one who got her love. During “Let It Happen,” a fan favorite, and “Tough Love,” Abrams made her way around the floor, hugging, high-fiving, and greeting her fans pressed against the barricades.
She took the audience to the middle of the Garden, where a replica of her childhood bedroom included a little piano and even a mini Wally. Here, she sounded incredible singing “Cool” and “I miss you, I’m sorry.”
Abrams didn’t forget the fans at the back. She stood on the back stage for “Right now” and “Free now” with her band finally joining her from the front. She made her way through the crowd again, much to the fans’ delight, for her finale, the Swift-featured “us.”
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Her encore was high energy and exciting. Abrams came out with a Red Sox hat on for TikTok and chart-topping hit “That’s So True” and her pop smash “Close To You.”
Gracie Abrams returns to the TD Garden Thursday night.
Setlist for Gracie Abrams at TD Garden, Boston, July 24, 2025:
- Risk
- Blowing Smoke
- 21
- I Love You, I’m Sorry
- Where do we go now?
- Mess It Up
- Death Wish
- Normal Thing
- Friend
- Mess It Up
- Packing It Up
- Full machine
- I Told You Things
- Out of Nowhere (unreleased)
- Let It Happen
- Augusta
- Cool
- I miss you, I’m sorry
- Right now
- Free Now
- us.
Encore:
- That’s So True
- Close To You
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