The Short N’ Sweet concert from a day one fan’s perspective
Written by Mattie Mac Kay
So, I had the absolute pleasure of attending Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” tour last Tuesday, Oct. 8.
This was Carpenter’s first time headlining areas, and accompanying the tour is her sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet.” Many people were just introduced to the five-foot superstar through her chart-topping hit, “Espresso,” her iconic opening set on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, or her witty, improvised outros for her song “Nonsense.”
I was introduced to Carpenter when she played “Maya Hart,” the snarky sidekick to the main character “Riley Matthews” in Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World.”
From the moment Hart appeared on my screen, nine-year-old me felt seen. So, when I found out that Maya Hart was Carpenter, and she was making pop music, I was immediately intrigued.
The first song I heard by Carpenter was “The Middle Of Starting Over,” a folk-pop song about moving on and starting fresh. From there I was hooked.
Flash forward ten years, I was front row at Carpenter’s first hometown arena show at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The doors didn’t open until six o’clock, but I arrived early and fans were already lined up at one o’clock, hoping to get a coveted barricade spot in the pit.
I was given a wristband, signaling my spot number. The wristband was a placeholder, so I was able to grab some crab fries before my VIP check-in.
As I waited, I walked past fans wearing heart corsets and “Jesus Was a Carpenter” shirts (Carpenter wore it herself during her groundbreaking Coachella set). Some were even dressed as the title character from “Juno” and Lord Farquaad. Carpenter said during the show that, “…it’s like I get a free fashion show every night.”
Once I checked in, I was able to shop a wide array of merchandise. More important than the merchandise was getting the best spot in the heart-shaped pit.
After a heart-racing walk to the pit, I had made it to the barricade. When I got there, I felt overwhelmed with emotion.
I remembered watching Carpenter from the last row in an extremely small venue at Six Flags Great Adventure. Now, there was less than five feet between me and where Carpenter was performing.
As fans awaited the opening act, Carpenter’s preshow playlist was curated with classic 80’s hits and current bangers.
Once the lights dimmed, singer Amaarae took the stage. I would describe her set as… interesting.
Usually, when an artist is an opening act for another artist, they have a small group of dancers or it’s just them and a band. Yet, Amaarae was different.
It was Amaarae and one dancer, behind two band members. While there’s no question that she was able to command a stage, having just one dancer confused me.
Amaarae’s music doesn’t match the vibe of Carpenter’s bright pop. Amaarae had a darker vibe that I didn’t dislike, it was very interesting.
After Amaarae’s 13-song set concluded, a giant “SC” with a little white heart covered the screen on the stage and the countdown was on for Carpenter.
The seats quickly filled, and the heart-shaped pit was incredibly packed. Security handed out water to make sure everyone was staying hydrated and safe.
It took about 15 minutes for the lights to go down, and as the white heart turned red, the sold-out crowd at Wells Fargo Center stood up. Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” blasted on the speakers, signifying to the packed arena that Carpenter was, indeed coming out to the stage.
An intro video of a cartoon Carpenter started playing, the “Short n Sweet Show.” It was followed by a pre-recorded video of Carpenter in a bathtub with a narrator talking about self-care. The narrator soon realizes that Carpenter is supposed to be on stage for the show.
As the curtain goes up, we are introduced to Carpenter’s “city penthouse” and Carpenter running around in a towel. Still wearing the towel, Carpenter walked on stage and unwrapped the towel to reveal herself in a red nightgown. The crowd immediately went wild for the Philadelphia Phillies’ team colors.
Carpenter started the show with a bang, performing “Taste.” The crowd knew every single word and honestly, I had never felt a more electric crowd.
The pop star followed with her pop-r&b track “Good Graces.” Over 20,000 fans got to scream, “I won’t give a f— about you.”
When Carpenter sat next to the electric fire on stage, the set slowed down and Carpenter sang her witty country-pop song, “Slim Pickins,” which gave the dancers a much-deserved break after the intense two songs.
Once that song ended, the lights turned a somber blue.
To my utter surprise, Carpenter performed the ballad, “Tornado Warnings,” from her fifth studio album “Emails I Can’t Send” – my favorite song by Carpenter, as it is so close to my heart.
“Tornado Warnings” tells the story of Carpenter’s habit of ignoring red flags, metaphorically tornado warnings. She’s only viewing the good in the person she sings about and she wants to keep this person by her side, even if she knows they’re bad for her.
The mood was still somber when Carpenter pulled out her guitar and performed the alternative-pop track “Lie to Girls,” and mashed up the closing track of “Emails I Can’t Send” titled “Decode.” At the end of the mashup, the lights shut off and Carpenter left the stage.
Seconds later, Carpenter popped back up on the screen, looking up as she sang her scandalous synthpop track, “Bed Chem.” It ended the act in a very steamy way.
Overall the first act was both intensely fun and sad while setting the tone for the rest of the show.
Once the curtain closed, a “Saturday Night Live” style intro played, showing the entire band, all dancers, and Carpenter. The curtain opened and the second portion of the show was titled “Sabrina After Dark.”
Carpenter came out the door in a custom Patou, black lace capri catsuit and sang a partially jazzy rendition of her 2023 bonus track turned mega-hit, “Feather.” She followed that with a throwback set to her last album performing songs such as “Read Your Mind,” “Fast Times” and a shortened version of “Opposite.”
Moving to the very front of the heart-shaped stage, it was time for the nightly “spin the bottle” game. According to Carpenter herself, this was different from the version of the game everyone knows.
“Instead of kissing each other, whichever number the bottle lands on, is a song we sing,” Carpenter said.
Now I was hoping the bottle landed on whichever number had her sing “Dreaming Of You” by the late, great Selena Quintanilla, which she covered on The Eras Tour.
Most fans I spoke to at the show, however, wanted the unreleased vinyl exclusive track, “Busy Woman.” Their wishes would come true.
The act then ended with her singing the 2022 hit, “Nonsense.” Carpenter has become notorious for doing a different outro for the song at every show during her last tour. This tour is different though, she does not sing a special outro. Instead, Carpenter blames it on technical difficulties and proceeds to argue with the narrator in an offstage, pre-recorded soundbite.
Following a few words from Carpenter’s fake sponsors, created for the show, Carpenter reappeared on stage in a red two-piece dress and she performed the ballad, “Dumb And Poetic.”
A skit that Carpenter has been doing throughout the tour was up next. Carpenter locates “the one” in the crowd, and pretends to arrest the boy for being “too hot.”
Carpenter gave him her fuzzy pink handcuffs, a prop mentioned in the song “Juno.” While giving him the handcuffs, Carpenter’s dress “falls off,” but actually just turns into a skirt outfit.
During the song, Carpenter pulls out a special “position.” Most nights, she does the same position from the first show, but for her hometown show, she did a sensual roll while laying on the ground.
Another highlight from “Juno” was when she apologized to someone with a bad knee for yelling at them to “get down” on their knees.
“Oh your knees bad, I’m sorry… hold me and explore me,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter then performed her number one hit, “Please Please Please.” Then finished out the show the way the album did, with the song “Don’t Smile,” followed by an encore of “Espresso.”
She donned a Phillies jersey for the show, which some theorize caused the death of the Phillies’ playoff run.
Overall, my experience at the show was a dream come true for my little nine-year-old self. Watching Carpenter go from a small, Disney Channel artist to a world famous mega-star has been amazing, and you know I’ll be waiting to see what she does next.
This piece was originally published by The Whit.