In the first of several LA shows for Sabrina Carpenter, she made quite the impression on Friday night on night one at Crypto Arena. From an early age, Carpenter has climbed the ladder of the TV and pop-scene. From 2014 – she appeared in three seasons of Girl Meets World – a spinoff show of the ’90s sitcom Boy Meets World. And then in 2022 – making waves in a supposedly love triangle with fellow pop-artist Olivia Rodrigo and actor Joshua Bassett. Carpenter released “Skin” and Rodrigo released “drivers license” – both in early 2021. This was to address the issue in-hand. By 2022 – the issue had subsided.
Friday night’s show, as part of her “Short n’ Sweet” tour, marked a pivotal point in Carpenter’s musical career – sound/stage presence and artistic intuition/growth. She had toured as an opener to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in selected US and worldwide shows in 2023 and 2024.
On stage, the background reminiscent of an evening mid-century penthouse can be seen throughout the 20,000-plus crowds on Friday night. On her chart-topping album “Short n’ Sweet”, the crowds were dazzled from her dancing during her hit numbers including “Espresso” and “Please Please Please”. One cannot go wrong with sipping on a cup of dark-colored cafe as a “pick-me-upper”.
Many costume changes and more sparklers as the show kept on going. And as tradition, a bottle is spun to choose a random song and then – Christina Aguilera is on-stage and singing “Ain’t No Other Man” and “What a Girl Wants.” Afterwards, Carpenter has wondered, “So, that just happened.”
Setlist: Taste // Good Graces // Slim Pickins // Tornado Warnings // Lie to Girls/decode // Bed Chem // Feather // Fast Times // Read Your Mind // Sharpest Tool/opposite // Because I Liked a Boy // Coincidence // Ain’t No Other Man/What a Girl Wants (with Christina Aguilera) // Nonsense // Dumb & Poetic // Juno // Please Please Please // Don’t Smile
Encore: Espresso
Photo Credit: AP / sabrina-carpenter.com