Sabrina Carpenter | Concert Review
Short ‘n’ Sweet
October 19, 2024, at Lenovo Center, Raleigh, NC
Sabrina Carpenter’s concert was definitely Short ‘n’ Sweet. I spent more time in traffic than I did at the venue but it was worth it. Maybe scheduling a concert at the same time as the state fair wasn’t the best idea. The traffic, unfortunately, made me miss the opener (Griff). I’ve been a fan since 2016 (she was my first-ever concert) so of course I enjoyed this performance.
The performance was based on retro television and had three acts. Act 1: The Short ‘n’ Sweet show emulated daytime television and had songs like “Taste”, “Tornado Warnings”, and “Bed Chem”. We then got a short video intermission that brings us to Act 2: Sabrina After Dark. This section was a little spicier, with songs like “Feather” and “Fast Times”. The surprise song was a cover of “Material Girl” by Madonna. Finally, Act 3: Don’t Touch That Dial was where Sabrina sang some of the more popular songs from the Short ‘n’ Sweet album, including “Juno” and “Please Please Please”. The encore song was, of course, her most popular song, “Expresso”.
The entire set was really innovative. They used a bunch of cameras, which was really cool. At some points, the dancers even became camera operators, which gave it a more intimate feel.
There was definitely a huge budget increase from the last tour. The physical set was set up like a penthouse overlooking New York, which sort of felt like a reference to the jokes people have made about her being a Polly Pocket.
The dancing and choreography were also really beautiful, (shout out to the choreographer Jasmine Badie). The women felt like extensions of Sabrina and then the men felt like objects, which fits really well with her music. The women were more fluid while the men were sharper, the women were on stage for longer periods of time and most of the time the men were only on stage to dance with the women or dance sexually on stage.
When it came to the people at the venue, they were so nice and helpful. My friend who was in the nosebleeds even got upgraded to the pit because she was asking a security guard a question about merch and then the security guard asked if she wanted an upgrade.
Something that made the Raleigh concert extra special was Barry Keoghan, who was spotted at this concert. Barry Keoghan starred in the “Please Please Please” music video and is Sabrina Carpenter’s boyfriend. Many celebrity gossip sites have shared that they have broken up, so his appearance at this show felt like they were dismissing those rumors. Raleigh was just the first show on Sabrina’s tour that he was spotted at. It seems as if he is now following her on tour as he’s been spotted at many other shows following Ralighs performance.
I’ve been following her since the beginning of her career and I’m glad that she’s finally blown up. I can’t wait to see what she does now with this extra popularity and more budget.