Singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams brought “The Secret of Us” tour to The Anthem in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2.
The United States branch of Abrams’ “The Secret of Us” tour began at the beginning of September. This tour features Abrams’ “The Secret of Us” album, which came out on June 21, 2024, as well as a mix of her songs from past albums and EPs.
“I kind of learned to lean on people in a new way as we made all of these songs…we made each other laugh and cry…and that process totally changed my life,” Abrams told the D.C. crowd.
Abrams began releasing music in 2019 and has since released two EPs and two albums. Her popularity has grown over the years, and Abrams has been able to collaborate with other artists from Noah Kahan to Taylor Swift, who is featured on Abrams’ newest album.
Before Abrams stepped out on stage, an opening set was performed by Role Model, an indie pop artist, mainly featuring songs from his newest album, “Kansas Anymore”.
After a set change, Abrams began the concert with the upbeat song “Felt Good About You” from “The Secret of Us” album. After introducing herself to the audience and performing a few more songs from her newest album, she also included a very popular song from her debut EP, “21”, which explores the struggle of moving on from her past love.
“It’s mainly like the lyricism…when you hear [a song], it tells a story…you’re really drawn to it,” said audience member Leah Hoddie, a 16-year-old from Baltimore.
Abrams surprised the audience by performing “Fault Line” on the piano, a song from her first official album released in 2023, “Good Riddance”, that focuses on the effects of going back to a relationship that does nothing but hurt her every time.
The audience later surprised Abrams with a fan project during the song “Normal Thing” from her newest album. Fans distributed colored paper hearts to other fans around the venue, who held these hearts over their flashlights throughout the song. Colored lights decorated the venue, illuminating the thousands of fans wearing Abrams’ signature bow, and Abrams told the crowd that she was almost moved to tears.
“You’ve changed my life, like, more than I can express. This community has become a place that means so much to me,” Abrams said to the crowd.
Abrams also delivered a powerful performance of “I Miss You, I’m Sorry” from her piano bench, paying tribute to the song that she shared allowed her to realize that we are all going through similar experiences, and nobody is alone in their feelings.
“She has stuff for when you’re happy or you’re sad and it’s also really relatable,” said 15-year-old audience member Mackenzie Collins from D.C.
Abrams finished off her main set with a performance of “Free Now”, going offstage to come back for her final encore. The crowd screamed along as she closed out the concert with performances of “us.” and “Close to You”, both from “The Secret of Us” album.
The United States branch of “The Secret of Us” tour will conclude with a performance in Portland, Maine on Oct. 10. This tour will then continue with both a European and United Kingdom leg and an Australian and New Zealand leg through May of 2025.