On September 23rd, 2024, Sabrina Carpenter kicked off the long anticipated Short N’ Sweet tour. Carpenter was a vital force in 2024’s pop girl summer. Alongside Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and others, Carpenter’s smash hits like “Espresso,” “Please, Please, Please,” and “Taste” have been undeniably some of the catchiest and the most iconic songs to emerge from this year’s music.
Walking around the venue, there were some noticeable trends in the crowd of fans. Colors like baby pink, light blue, and pale yellow were the most prevalent colors of fan outfits. Other trends in clothing included glitter, lace, cut out hearts, kiss marks, and bows. It was a very feminine and doll-like style that seemed to have inspired these outfits. These trends go along very well with Sabrina Carpenter’s personal style, for she has been sporting many hyper-feminine outfits recently.
The show is centered around an element of nostalgia. The Barbie dream house inspired stage would transform into a vintage television set in between acts. During one outfit change, she displayed fake commercials that were inspired by her song lyrics. One showed an advertisement for carpenter tools, a nod to her last name and her own song, “Sharpest Tool.” Another was a ceiling fan advertisement, which was a play off her song lyrics, “I know you’re craving some fresh air, but the ceiling fan is so nice.”
Carpenter’s setlist consisted of a variety of songs from her discography, including many of her catchy pop hits and emotional ballads.
The night started with a video of her enjoying a bubble bath where she is informed by a narrator that the show is starting right now. She rushes out on stage wrapped in a towel that she takes off to reveal her first outfit of the night before performing “Taste.”
Carpenter then continued on to perform “Good Graces” before singing “Slim Pickins” in front of the stage’s dreamhouse fireplace. After “Slim Pickins,” she sits in front of a therapist where she sings “Tornado Warnings,” a song about quite literally lying to her therapist: “I’m lying to my therapist. I keep saying things like, ‘I never saw him and we never kissed.’”
After this, Sabrina wound down to perform two emotional songs, “Lie to Girls” and “Decode.” Although the songs were slower and not as popular as her other hits, the crowd still chanted the lyrics loudly.
Next, she headed to the heart shaped bed on her stage where she gives a scandalous performance of the song, “Bed Chem.” The screen flashes a “parental discretion is advised” text as the camera pans over her.
She then took us back to the Emails I Can’t Send album of 2022 where she performed three songs off of the album, “Feather”, “Fast Times”, and “Read your Mind.”
Sabrina then went up to the dreamhouse bathroom where she runs into two people. They quickly leave and Sabrina sits down on the toilet where she performs “Sharpest Tool” before getting up and singing “Opposite” into the mirror.
She carried on to perform “Because I Liked a Boy,” a song about the controversy surrounding her relationship with a guy who had previously dated another pop artist, Olivia Rodrigo. She speaks to the crowd about this song, explaining that when she was writing it she would’ve never imagined even two people would sing along, let alone a sold out show of 20,000 people.
She then headed to the heart shaped end of the catwalk with her backup dancers to perform “Coincidence” and “Nonsense” in a sleepover style performance. She also played a round of spin the bottle to decide which surprise song she’d be playing for the night. The bottle hit number two, so she performed a cover of “Material Girl” by Madonna in a karaoke style, with sing-a-long lyrics displayed on the screen for the crowd.
Afterwards, she introduced “Dumb & Poetic” with a clip from a 1966 interview that Leonard Cohen gave to the CBC, where he compares poetry to instructions on a shoe polish can. She uses this interview because in the song, she name drops Leonard Cohen. It’s a heartbreaking performance where she sings all alone on the stage which is now filtered with sparkling lights.
Then, “Juno,” one of the most loved performances of the show, started up. She began the performance by “arresting” a crowd member for “being too hot.” It is a lighthearted and fun moment, giving one fan a really memorable night. She heads down the catwalk to the heart stage once again and belts the lyrics while the stage raises.
“Please, Please, Please,” one of the Short N’ Sweet album singles, was next on the setlist. The energy was high as the crowd clapped along to the beat. But, it wound down quickly with the second to last song, “Don’t Smile.” During “Don’t Smile,” Carpenter rolls the credits of all those who helped with the show while singing, “Don’t smile because it happened, baby cry because it’s over.”
“Espresso” is a song known and loved by many. Coming out in April of 2024, the song was an immediate hit. The show wrapped up with this song. It was a very energetic and fun performance. The entire crowd sang along while confetti fell from the ceiling.
Throughout the night, Carpenter cleverly changed outfits according to the vibe of the acts. She started off with a baby blue, rhinestone embellished bodysuit which she later covered with a sheer, blue babydoll dress. After this, she switched into a lacy, black jumpsuit. For the rest of the show, she wore a glittery, red two piece set.
Song 1: Taste
To kick off the setlist, Carpenter starts with a catchy track called “Taste.” This song has been a massive pop hit, and a tune that never gets old. She starts the song off wearing a sparkly, blue bodysuit, and later on throws on a babydoll dress.
Song 3: Slim Pickins
For this song, Carpenter gets cozied up next to a fireplace. This was such a fun and humorous song to sing along to.
Song 4: Tornado Warnings
This is the first song Sabrina sings from her previous album “Emails I Can’t Send.” The lights transition from shades of red and orange, into to cool blues.
Song 5: Lie To Girls
This is the first song that Carpenter brings her guitar out for. She sings acappella, until beatings of drums make their way into the song.
Song 6: decode
Carpenter added this song onto the end of “Lie To Girls.” She only sings about thirty seconds of this song, but the sound of the piano and her vocals together are very captivating.
Song 7: Bed Chem
This song is definitely a pop bop off of her latest album. Its lyrics are very catchy, and got the whole crowd dancing along.
Song 8: Feather
As Sabrina leaves the stage after “Bed Chem,” she makes her way back debuting her first outfit change of the night!
Song 9: Fast Times
This song has such a groovy tune, and a lot of dancers came out for it. Lights were spinning from left to right, and the energy in the room was very bright.
Song 10: Read your Mind
Carpenter kicks it off again with another widely known song from “Emails I Can’t Send.” Throughout this song, she makes her way throughout her dream house, and the dancers do such a fun choreograph!
Song 11: Sharpest Tool
“Sharpest Tool” is a song that you can’t help but get emotional to. During her performance, the lights dimmed to blue, and the crowd waved their flashlights while swaying to her compelling vocals.
Song 12: opposite
Jumping back into her previous album, Sabrina sings opposite. This performance was different than the rest of the songs. For this one, she sang closely to the camera that is presented on the screens.
Song 13: because i liked a boy
After “Opposite,” Sabrina sings a heartbreaking hit about a time in life where she was heavily criticized by the media.
Song 14: Coincidence
This was such a fun song for everyone to sing along to. Carpenter’s stage turned into a couch, and her friends joined her on stage for a fun, humorous song.
Song 14: Surprise Song
For a fun little spin in the tour, Carpenter plays a classic slumber party game called spin the bottle. The bottle spins on four different options, each of which are different songs that she will choose to sing for her surprise song. For us, she sang “Material Girl” by Madonna.
Song 15: Nonsense
This is the last song she sings off of the Emails I Can’t Send album. This was a great option to end that album with. It is such an upbeat song, and so fun to sing along to.
Song 16: Dumb & Poetic
The set for this song was so visually appealing. This song is where she presented her next outfit, and there were lights twinkling across the whole stage.
Song 17: Juno
This song was our personal favorites off of the album, and also our favorite performance of the night. For the song “Juno,” she does a funny skit, followed by an on stage outfit change. The end of her stage also rises into the air towards the end of the song.
Song 18: Please Please Please
“Please Please Please” was such a fun song to sing and dance along to. It is one of her greatest hits, and definitely got the crowd hyped up before the concert came to an end.
Song 19: Don’t Smile
This track was perfect to add to the end of the setlist. Its lyrics say “Don’t smile cause it happened, baby cry because it’s over.”
Song 20: Espresso
Carpenter ends the tour with the song that made the album “Short N Sweet” what it has truly become.
