W hen Grace Ives appears on NME ’s computer screen from her San Francisco hotel room, head framed by an untidy halo of pastel pink hair, it’s a few days after some big news has been shared with the world. The former bedroom pop artist and current indie-pop darling will open for Olivia Rodrigo in 2027, getting her first taste of arena crowds at already sold-out shows in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Munich and London next March and April. Right now, she’s feeling “pretty ecstatic”, she beams, her eyes looking off into the distance as a grin paints her face. READ MORE:  Olivia Rodrigo live at Mad Cool 2025: pop perfection that rocks hard “It feels like the biggest present I’ve ever gotten in my life,” she continues. “I don’t know what the appropriate reaction is. I’m overwhelmed by the vision of what that looks like when I close my eyes. It feels so massive and exciting, like what I’m doing right now, but times 200. It’s the final stage artists work towards, and I get to try it out for a week or two.…