Live Review – Gracie Abrams at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Words: Benns Borgese | Photography: Abby Waisler

On the final UK show of her Good Riddance tour, Benns Borgese heads to hear the soothing strums of American singer songwriter Gracie Abrams bathed in a hazy glow reminiscent of her sound.

It’s been an unusually tepid day for early October in London, but the colder breeze that’s creeping up as the sun sets makes for much more fitting weather. Impervious to the change, fans of the American singer songwriter Gracie Abrams are lined up outside of the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Inside, a sea of different coloured bows holds a variety of hairstyles in place as girls in lacey dresses and star-covered crop tops enthusiastically await for the artist to take the stage.

Supporting Abrams on tour is Searows, the indie-folk project of Kentucky-born singer songwriter Alec Duckart. With a setlist comprising of only five songs, Searows charmed the audience with soft vocals and stripped-down guitar-and-keys melodies representative of his catalogue.

By the time Abrams takes the stage, the floor and balconies are packed. The excitement is palpable as the lights shine to the beat of the night’s opener ‘Where Do We Go Now?’ and the band takes the stage. Welcomed by cheers and screams, Abrams makes her entrance in a long, silky-like dress layered over a white tee with ruffled short sleeves, making it clear most attendees have perfectly understood the dress code.

Abrams has done a lot of growing since her first London show at OMEARA two years ago, and supporting Taylor Swift on her sold-out North American stadium tour earlier this year certainly has a hand in it. Yet, theatres is where she thrives the most. There is something about the way she interacts with her audience, each feeding off the other’s energy. Like when she performed her 2021 single ‘Mess It Up’ as the highly requested surprise song of the night: “You made me stop hating this one”, she admits to her fans as the song comes to an end. Judging by the electric energy she just displayed performing it you would never have known there ever was a time she felt uncomfortable playing it.

A connection like the one Abrams has with her crowds can be hard to balance, something that had started to show at the singer’s last few London dates, but it’s clear she has now found her footing. When fans feel a deep connection with an artist, it can be hard to draw a line: when is it appropriate for fans to interact with them during a show? And how do artists let them know when to stop without making them think they don’t value their exchanges?

If there was a point where Abrams’ fans struggled with understanding concert etiquette by constantly interrupting her shows with various personal requests, those days seem to now be behind them. It’s not a lack of openness – it’s a growing show of respect to her as both a person and an artist putting on the best show she can for them without creating disruption. And the sense of respect is shown both on and off stage. Like when at the end of the night, as Abrams is hopping on her tour bus ready to depart, a group of fans calls out someone who has taken things a step too far. “If you actually cared about Gracie, you would respect her! Just leave!”, they shouted at a guy who had crossed a major line by attempting to jump on the bus right behind Abrams, probably in hopes of getting his tour poster autographed by her.

Abrams’ shows hold a cathartic force to them, and the Good Riddance tour is no different. With an obviously predominant number of songs from the record the tour is named after, the show evokes a heightened melancholy. The mesmerising production of Abrams’ gigs also can’t go unnoticed, a helping hand in giving the show a sense of magical wonder. A series of lightbulbs scattered across the stage, a haze that glows on Abrams as if she is bathing in aurora borealis. Despite its name, fans will surely be sad to let her go until another stint on the road.