By lunchtime, the line for the Gracie Abrams concert at the State Theater had already snaked from Congress Street to High Street. Even though the rising pop star wouldn’t be taking the stage until 9 p.m., you had to be aggressive if you wanted to stake out any real estate near that stage.

The concert sold out months ago and tickets on the resale market were going for hundreds of dollars above face value. However, it’s also likely that the average theatergoer saw the name on the marquee and wondered who she was and how she became so popular.

The answer to “how” probably concerns Taylor Swift, the supernova around whom much of the music industry orbits. The two songwriters are friends; Abrams opened several dates of Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour and occasionally joined Swift on stage. Swift appears on Abrams’ album The Secret of Us, which was co-produced by frequent Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner (of rock band The National). The connections are close, and the audience at the Abrams concert was mostly young women who were probably Swifties or at least Swiftie neighbors; The men’s toilet on the first floor was converted into an additional women’s toilet to accommodate the target group.

As for Abrams, she’s a rising young star who plays guitar and keyboard and has an easygoing charm that translates beautifully to the stage. Her father is filmmaker JJ Abrams (yes, of Star Wars: The Force Awakens fame), but her mother, Katie McGrath, is more close to the Portland show: McGrath was born and raised in Brewer, Maine.



Gracie has been close to Maine since childhood (her songs are named after Augusta, Camden and Rockland) and she expressed her love for the state and her family while in attendance. In fact, she is the rare artist to shout out her Grammy on the State Theater stage, referencing her grandmother, not the music industry award.

To be clear, famous parents and friendship with Taylor won’t wow fans if the songs aren’t worth it, and Abrams is an extremely talented songwriter with a great sense of melody. She took most of the concert footage from “The Secret of Us,” from the backlit opening ballad “Felt Good About You” to the breathtaking climax of “Close To You.” Her lyrics are often clever attempts at navigating love and relationships that are conversational enough to feel like a trusting friend and introspective enough, with an empowering sense of self, to feel like a diary entry. She’s the kind of artist whose songs are called both “I Love You, I’m Sorry” (which is currently climbing the Billboard Hot 100) and “I miss you, I’m sorry.” Suffice it to say that both of these songs were translated into a concert setting.

On the album, her voice is recorded so beautifully – with just the right amount of reverb to give it a grainy sense of longing and empathy – that one wonders how these vocals would translate to a concert setting. That question proved largely moot, however, as the audience sang along to nearly every song at the top of their lungs, jumping with joy and relief as their poppier songs transitioned from the country-style verses to the booming, club-ready choruses.

Throughout the concert, the audience elevated the music to a veritable event. Abrams was outwardly grateful that her songs made such a connection, even calling her fans the night’s “co-headliners.” The people who stood in line all day were wise; It will likely be her last chance to see Abrams so close. Many artists stop at the State Theater on their way to larger venues—Thompson’s Point, Boston-area arenas and beyond. Abrams was the rare performer who made the State Theater itself seem bigger, and her fans were a big reason why.

Robert Ker is a freelance writer in Portland. He can be reached at [email protected].

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