When the former Disney starlet’s Emails I Can’t Send Tour came to The Factory last March, we jumped at the opportunity to cover it, as the viral success of her single “Nonsense” indicated that her star was on the rise and we wanted in on the ground floor.
Unfortunately, we found that show half-baked and unfocused and gave it a lukewarm review.
“The most memorable moments from the show weren’t contagious pop hooks or intimate acoustic confessionals, but her telling a fan at the barricade she won’t take a BeReal for them because she doesn’t want to or taking an applause poll to see what the best Girl Scout cookie is,” we wrote. “It was less of a concert and more like The Sabrina Carpenter Variety Hour.”
Eighteen months, three smash hit singles and one high-profile opening slot on The Eras Tour later, Carpenter is one the biggest names in music. Her latest album, Short N’ Sweet, has dominated pop music since it dropped in August.
Despite our tepid first impression, we were eventually won over by “that me espresso.” And while we stand by what we wrote about her last show, we’re also open to giving that story a happier ending.
Carpenter made that easy for us this time, offering a Broadway-caliber production with dazzling, Barbie Dreamhouse-esque set pieces and costumes. This tour has gotten some flack for its ticket prices (resale balcony seats were going for over $500 that afternoon), but credit where it’s due: At least we can see where the money’s going.
Carpenter's fans are always antsy to see what color costume she'll reveal at the start of her show.
Carly May Gravley
The show was less of a concert and more like The Sabrina Carpenter Variety Hour, but this time we mean it in a good way. The concert is modeled around retro late-night TV programs. Carpenter's show opens with a cartoon version and pre-filmed clips such as “Sabrina After Dark.” Ads for “The Honeybee Hotline” divide the show into distinctly themed segments.
She’s still the same silly and spontaneous Sabrina that fans love, but the set is now airtight and laser-focused, coming in at an hour and a half and leaving you wanting more. None of the audience interaction portions overstay their welcome and much of her humor is now incorporated into the songs.
After “Nonsense,” for example, there’s a bit where she pretends her mic goes out at the end of the song where her rotating outros used to be. This is followed by a recorded sketch of her berating the sound guy for the “mistake.”
“That’s the only reason anyone came to this show,” she quips. “Can you hear how disappointed they are?”
(We got some heat for pointing out that many attendees of her last show walked out after “Nonsense.” It’s nice that we can all laugh about that now.)
Nobody was actually disappointed, of course, because Carpenter has built on the lessons learned from “Nonsense” with new and improved moments of intrigue throughout the set. Right off the bat, she opens her first song, “Taste,” by pulling away a towel wrapped around herself to reveal a glimmering leotard that’s a different color at every stop.
Given the Halloween theme, Dallas’ outfit was black, with bunny ears to match.
She also had a “spin the bottle” segment in which the number the bottle lands on dictates the cover she’ll perform that night. This came right after her song “Coincidence,” which is fitting because she conveniently got to perform “Hopelessly Devoted” in her Grease getup.
(Just like “Coincidence” is about how she doesn’t believe her unfaithful lover’s excuses, we’re not buying that “Hopelessly Devoted” was actually picked at random. She sounded great, though, so we’ll let it slide.)
Finally, the raunchy fertilization anthem “Juno” contains the lyric “Wanna try out some freaky positions? / Have you ever tried this one?” During this line, Carpenter acts out a sex position that changes in every city. Houston got reverse cowgirl and Austin saw her putting the mic to her crotch to invoke pegging.
Parental discretion is advised for this entire show, by the way.
After Dallas fans waited for two verses and a chorus with their fingers on the record button to capture her latest NSFW pose, Carpenter switched it up by yelling “Boo!” instead. We can honestly say we’ve never tried that one.
Throughout the show, there were several long applause breaks, and Carpenter seemed to take that time to let the moment sink in. After “Because I Liked a Boy,” a song detailing the aftermath of cheating rumors that almost ended her post-Disney Channel career before it began, the rapturous response seemed to leave her on the verge of tears.
Hopefully, those were tears of pride. Her come-up has been one for the ages, and this tour is a triumphant way to close her breakout year. And we, the reformed haters, have never been more thrilled to be proven wrong.
