Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet Tour” Makes Pop Music Feel Larger Than Life: Review

Looking at the fully-formed pop star bedazzled to the heavens onstage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on October 16th, it’s easy to forget that Sabrina Carpenter was a Disney kid.

There are only so many routes to take when young performers untangle themselves from these identities, after all; there’s the tried and true Miley method of announcing that you can no longer be tamed. There’s also the path of Zendaya or Ariana Grande — a more gradual rebrand and incorporation of mature themes before the hard line of a project like Euphoria or Dangerous Woman. Sabrina Carpenter landed closer to the latter after completing her time on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World, jumping wholeheartedly into music that allowed her to explore more themes than she had during her time in the House of Mouse without alienating a fan base growing up alongside her.

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Her 2022 album, emails i can’t send, offered a huge turning point in her quest for pop stardom, bolstered by shticks like ad lib outros for her breakout track “nonsense” that she tailored to each city in which she performed. But her 2024 record, Short n’ Sweet, has pushed her into entirely new territory. She’s a true pop phenomenon — “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” were inescapable this summer — and her ongoing arena tour surpasses expectations.

“The Short n’ Sweet Tour” is theatrical and playful, built around an enormous set piece of a white high-rise apartment that can conjure ’60s nostalgia, ’70s dance party, or ’80s glam depending on the lighting and outfits. The sheer amount of effort poured into designing this show makes it feel bigger and better than most other pop tours on the market, creating an ideal backdrop for Carpenter’s cheeky, risqué performance style.

Carpenter took the stage with an entrance that introduced her as a screwball comedy protagonist; she melodramatically appeared to be late for her call time and ran out in a towel, only to reveal her sparkly stage fit beneath. When the mic stood too high for her to reach, she pantomimed and bickered with the stage hands, and this energy didn’t let up over the hour and change she spent onstage.

The set list included every song on Short n’ Sweet while incorporating cuts from previous projects like “Feather” and “Fast Times,” but the crowd just may have been loudest for the anthemic “because i liked a boy.” Each night on tour, Carpenter and her crew of backup dancers play spin the bottle to determine a surprise song, and Nashville, appropriately, received an excellent cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”

“I haven’t said this on any other nights of this tour, but you guys actually seem like you’re having a good time,” Carpenter told the Nashville crowd, accepting a fuzzy blue cowboy hat from someone in the pit. Flanked by an energetic live band and a slew of backup dancers ready to play along with the bits, many moments of the evening provided a reminder that Carpenter briefly appeared on Broadway (she was set to take over the role of Cady Heron on Mean Girls in March of 2020).

The emphasis on spectacle and storylines was honestly reminiscent of a K-pop show, in all the best ways, and if Sabrina Carpenter wanted to sell photo cards and light sticks, she absolutely could. In other words, she pulled off quite a bit of choreography while maintaining strong live vocals in a way that feels increasingly rare in American pop stars; her vocal span is a bit dizzying, and she easily slid into the stratosphere for “Slim Pickins” before pulling from the bottom of her range for “Please Please Please.” After social media whispers of lip syncing, Carpenter removed the backing track from her show last week, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything we were hearing was happening live.

This choice offered a reminder that as much extravagance as the tour offered, Carpenter’s focus is on the music. The half dozen costume changes, scripted crowd interactions, lighting and camerawork, and dance sequences are wonderful, but they’re all second to delivering songs she’s proud to have in her repertoire. While her confident musical identity and mischievous stage presence have drawn crowds big enough to sell out spaces like Bridgestone Arena, her voice is not to be ignored, and if she keeps fostering and developing it, the pop world will continue to pay attention.

She mentioned multiple times how much she loves coming to Nashville and noted that she’d penned a few of her tracks in Music City. There are multiple songs on Short n’ Sweet in particular that wouldn’t sound remotely out of place on a Kacey Musgraves album. It sounds like Sabrina Carpenter may want to make a country album; she has one vote in her favor right here if that’s the case, but for now, we get to enjoy one of the best mainstream pop tours available to us. She’s in her sweet spot right now…why should we cut that short?

“Short n’ Sweet Tour” Nashville Setlist:
01. Taste
02. Good Graces
03. Slim Pickins
04. Tornado Warnings
05. Lie to Girls
06. decode
07. Bed Chem
08. Feather
09. Fast Times
10. Read Your Mind
11. Sharpest Tool
12. opposite
13. because i liked a boy
14. Coincidence
15. 9 to 5 (Dolly Parton cover)
16. Nonsense
17. Dumb & Poetic
18. Juno
19. Please Please Please
20. Don’t Smile
21. Espresso

Sabrina Carpenter 2024 Tour Gallery: