Yes, I lost my voice after screaming “Espresso” with 15,000 people, and, yes, it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.
On Oct. 20, I had the privilege of seeing Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” tour at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. How I secured tickets, I don’t know, but I’m glad I braved ticket sales and succeeded.
From the second the lights went down, the production was very on brand. The marketing for the album “Short n’ Sweet” has followed a 1960s pop kick, and this was reflected in the cheesy intro and various interludes throughout the show.
On screen, Carpenter appeared in a bathtub, as if in an old commercial, with a voiceover heavily hinting that the show was about to start. Carpenter appears panicked and rushed to get ready. She put her hair in a wrap, then finally seems to give up and appears on stage in “only” a towel.
She finally stepped into the lights, smirking and coyly unwrapping the towel to unveil a sparkling, lingerie style bodysuit. Then she was off, jumpstarting the beat of “Taste” with a kick of her leg.
The main stage was built into the skeleton structure of a penthouse with different rooms that were utilized for different songs. “Bed Chem” was performed in the bedroom with the round plush couch/bed, and “Lie to Girls” and a rendition of “Opposite” took place in a draped bathroom. And the winning piece: a heart shaped lift that could either sink into the ground or climb into the air.
On this gem of a stage, Carpenter performed songs not only from the namesake album of the tour, but from her previous album “Emails I Can’t Send.” The combination of both albums represented some of the lowest points in her life and some of the best — something the singer herself noted on stage.
This interpretation of the two albums gave me a new perspective on the song “All Because I Liked A Boy” on the “Emails I Can’t Send” album. When streaming, I understood the alleged conflict behind the song, where Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo butted heads over an ex-boyfriend. However, hearing her sing live about the distressing and self-destructive experience made the meaning more forceful.
Another one of my favorite performances was for “Please Please Please.” Silhouetted with two of her backup singers, Carpenter began the song with isolated vocals and percussion, creating an interpretation of the song that zeroed in on the bare bones of the track.
When not in the midst of a song, Carpenter was very conversational, interacting with the crowd, complimenting young fans on outfits imitating her own and criticizing her own bad jokes. She even gave out a pair of pink fuzzy handcuffs to a guy in the crowd, as referenced in the song “Juno.”
Her commentary felt very natural, as if she wasn’t trying to sway our impression in any way and instead let her natural personality through. During the interlude between “Coincidence” and the surprise song of the night, “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer, she lounged against the lowered pit of the heart lift and made some more bad jokes.
Without a doubt, Carpenter was one of the best artists I have seen live. Her dynamic voice was just as powerful and acrobatic as in her recorded music. Proving her talent, she improvised and deviated from the original notes to present a different variation that never failed to land, and she made it look effortless.
The whole night, the feather boas, sparkles, short skirts and getting to scream “‘cause I’m a singer” with the singer herself, fell together into an elating, shot-of-espresso kind of night.
