‘Thank you so much Australia!': Gracie Abrams takes to the stage in Perth as she bids to become the next Taylor Swift
Gracie Abrams kicked off the first of two sell out shows in Perth on Friday night as she embarked on the final leg of her Australian tour.
Taylor Swift's bestie had already performed packed shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, and unlike so many big pop stars of recent times, Abrams refused to give her fans in Perth the cold shoulder.
It's been a meteoric rise to the top for Abrams, who is the daughter of Hollywood director JJ Abrams.
While she began on few people's radar as an up and coming singer-songwriter, a starring position as support on pal Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was the nudge she needed to send her soaring into the mainstream much like fellow Eras Tour act Sabrina Carpenter.
Despite it being her first arena tour following her breakout success, Abrams clearly wanted to keep things intimate despite the grand setting of the RAC Arena as she pranced through the crowd from the main stage to the B-stage which had been dressed up to look like her childhood bedroom.
As she belted out some of her lesser known tracks you'd be mistaken for thinking they were all world conquering smash hits listening to fans singing back every word to her. She had the crowd, filled mostly with teenage girls enamoured by the singer's girl next door smile and talent for writing a hook, in the palm of her hand and one thing quickly became clear; Abrams is here to stay.
'Thank you for making me feel so welcome' she gushed of the Australian crowds before later proudly waving an Aussie flag thrown to her from the crowd.
The entire experience was elevated further thanks to watching the show from one of RAC Arena's 30 fully customisable private suites, allowing the feeling of being embedded in the crowd without having to scramble through whenever a bathroom break is needed - simply a must for any millennial concertgoer.
Despite all her talents, it's hard to shake off the feeling that we still don't quite know who Abrams is as an artist or what her sound is outside of her many influences.
From her distinct vocal delivery (Halsey, Olivia Rodrigo), to her songwriting style (Taylor Swift, Lorde) to her persona (Michelle Branch, Natalie Imbruglia), Abrams is yet to carve out a distinguishable identity of her own. At present, she's still - while clearly very talented - an amalgamation of the pop stars she no doubt listened to in her childhood bedroom while dreaming of one day becoming just like them.
That doesn't mean it won't happen for Abrams. Olivia Rodrigo faced similar critiques when she first emerged. But just a handful of years later and the former High School Musical star quickly found her niche and became responsible for bringing back female fronted pop rock to the charts where it had long been considered an essentially dead genre since dying out in the late 2000s.
Abrams' interactions with her adoring fans while sat on a model of her childhood bed was very sweet, and she seemed genuinely grateful to have formed such a close connection with a demographic that has become synonymous with seeking out parasocial relationships with their idols.
She ended her two hour-ish set with her two biggest hits, Close To You and then the global smash That's So True, which surprised even Abrams' diehard fans when it soared to the top of the charts at the tail-end of 2024.
With such a big hit to her name just as she begins work on a follow-up album, she seems poised to cement herself within the pantheon of pop with her next release - but for now, for this writer at least, the question remains: Who is Gracie Abrams?
However, one thing's for sure, I look forward to finding out.
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