Gig review: Gracie Abrams at Motorpoint Arena, with Dora Jar

Sometimes waiting really is better. When the news broke in March that Gracie Abrams would have to cancel her Nottingham Motorpoint Arena show due to illness, her fans were undoubtedly devastated. Hopes of seeing a performer of this stature right here in the East Midlands had seemingly been dashed. She promised to return, but rescheduling an arena date for a star like Gracie is not an easy job. 

Her support act, fellow US singer-songwriter Dora Jar, made a hastily arranged appearance (charging only £5) at Rescue Rooms on the scheduled Monday evening — a beautiful gesture, but one which still left a big space to be filled.

But sure enough, Gracie was true to her promise, finding a free Wednesday-night spot at the Arena, just ahead of her Glastonbury and Hyde Park bookings. What had been scheduled as a late winter tour date became a midsummer warm-up show and a high-profile delayed conclusion to her huge international The Secrets of Us tour.

Dora Jar remained in place as Gracie’s support act, lighting up the vast space of the Arena with the sounds of her Americana-inflected, organic bedroom pop. 

“This is a big room!” she exclaimed, genuinely overwhelmed by and appreciative of the warm — and very loud — Notts reception from almost 10,000 Gracie devotees. Many seemed equally happy to see Dora, who has carved out a distinct niche for herself among fans of alt-pop played on real instruments, opening for other big names including Billie Eilish and The 1975. 

Dora came across as earnest and humble but equally energetic, showing off some impressive moves and flexibility as she dashed around the stage. She conjured up an impressive singalong early on in She Loves Me, and a vast sea of phone lights not long afterwards.

A set highlight was Lucky, played in two sections: a long acoustic part with a dramatic pause before the full band launched in for an extended run. No Way To Relax When You’re On Fire and Cannonball were also excellent, performed with an easy kind of passion by Dora and her excruciatingly cool band.

A 40-minute break with excitement rising fast (and during which the queues for the ladies toilets were off the charts) and finally Gracie Abrams’ own band began an atmospheric intro.

When Gracie finally appeared as the music morphed into Felt Good About You, she was behind a translucent curtain behind and raised above the main stage area. Wearing a long, glittering dress, Gracie performed with an endearing mix of elegance and tentativeness — bold and confident with the songs, her voice sounding fully on form; then entirely human and occasionally very slightly flustered during the unscripted audience interactions. There were plenty of those: Gracie clearly loved reading (and sometimes signing) banners and notes; or grabbing fans’ phones to take selfies from stage. At one point, after one of the banners caught her eye, she invited a group of three friends near the front to perform a rap they’d written, stretching her arm across the pit with a microphone so their voices could be amplified for the supportive crowd to hear. It was a genuinely sweet moment.

Gracie is of the generation of stars who genuinely understands the importance of including her fans, but stopping short of making this feeling like a clique, or even a bit culty.

The setlist progressed smoothly: through Risk, Blowing Smoke, 21… Then, I Love You I’m Sorry felt like the first big moment, one where the singalongs elevated even higher and light and sounds combined to conjure pure emotion from the vast room. That was followed by Where Do We Go Now? which developed a gorgeous flow and vibe, accompanied by grainy visuals projected on that translucent screen.

Another highlight was Camden, the only offering from Gracie’s 2021 EP This Is What It Feels Like (practically ancient history). It’s a gorgeous song based around achingly melancholic piano chords; performed live, it brought a close-up atmosphere and about as hushed a room as you could expect in a huge arena.

She returned to The Secret Of Us for a run of four songs. Those included Normal Thing, featuring some creative lighting patterns which nicely matched the electronic pulses of the song, and the slow burn intensity of Let It Happen.

It was then that the B-Stage set up was revealed: a replica of what Gracie said was the bedroom where she wrote many of her early songs. Gracie spent plenty of time there, chatting casually with the huge audience. She started by performing, by request “from her DMs” Unsteady (which features on the deluxe version of her previous album Good Riddance), fan favourite Cool, and the heart-rending I Miss You, I’m Sorry (a 2020 B-side). This was a carefully considered set: plenty of marketing of the newest material but mixed with samples neatly representing her career trajectory. 

A dash back to main stage for big-hitter us. (cue ample, cathartic scream-singing but sadly no Taylor Swift guest appearance) and finally Free Now and a wave goodbye. 

No one believed for a second that it was over yet… there were at least two huge songs conspicuously absent from the evening, and sure enough Gracie was back within a minute to send the room into a frenzy from the instant the acoustic guitar intro of That’s So True rang out. That only left an energetic performance of Close To You before the show — and the tour — was wrapped up.

This was a masterful performance from a star who was full of thrilled yet restrained confidence. The bond between Gracie and her fans was plain to see, an infectious, close-knit familiarity which sets her apart from some other similarly successful performers. With a careful balance of glamour and down-to-Earth charm, she clearly made the year for thousands of those fans. It may have taken a few extra months for Gracie to get to Nottingham, but the wait was instantly forgotten and replaced with some very special memories.

Gracie Abrams performed at Motorpoint Arena on 25th June 2025.

@gracieabrams