In an era seemingly rampant with engineered online buzz, Grace Ives‘ Cambridge, MA show on Wednesday, May 20, made it evident that there are no fake fans for this artist. The New York City native, who is on tour in support of her third album, Girlfriend, played a live set that perfectly blended tracks from throughout her discography, making listeners new and old feel at home.
Fueled by songs with distinctly catchy beats and cheeky yet sometimes crushing lyrics, captivating lighting design, and Ives’ high-energy stage presence, the show felt intimate while still having a high production quality. The ability to strike such a balance is difficult, and part of it is a testament to the audience’s level of maintained engagement throughout the 16-song set.
When an artist who has been around for a while reaches a new audience with their latest release, as Ives has with Girlfriend, sometimes shows that include songs spanning entire careers can feel disjointed: day one fans acting too cool to get caught up in the new stuff, and new fans seeming disconnected from and uninterested by the old stuff. Refreshingly, this was not the case. Even in moments when some segments of the crowd seemed unfamiliar with certain songs, their attention did not lapse, which was encouraging to see.
The magnetic performance delivered by Ives could be enough to explain this, but deeper than that, I attribute it to her vulnerability as a songwriter. There is no way someone can sing so openly about examining the darkest parts of themselves, struggles with substance abuse, and experiences during their three-year hiatus and not connect with listeners on a greater level.
There are moments when the set slowed down a bit. However, even in the slower moments, the energy was never lost. When not playing the OB-6 set center stage, she bounced around it either opening about how her parents met in Boston or kneeling down to sign a fan’s vinyl, taking off the cap of the Sharpie with her teeth as she transitioned into the next verse.
“It means so much having people…here,” said Ives toward the end of her set. “I mean it.”
And meant it she did. There is a unique type of parasocial relationship that forms for a fan when an artist has bedroom–pop origins (Ives began making music in her college dorm room and released her debut EP, Really Hot, in 2016). There is a sense of pride that develops for the artist, and hopes for their future successes.
Ives’ raw talent and unique sound that stopped me in my tracks when I first heard her music years ago is alive, well, and continuingly evolving in beautiful ways that feel effortlessly cool and true to form.
Ives just finished the North American leg of her tour and is off to Europe for shows starting back up in June. She is slated as an opener for Olivia Rodrigo’s 2027 tour, proving that the moment of Grace Ives is far more than fleeting.
