Sabrina Carpenter Short n’ Sweet Tour Toronto!

By Kayla Harper

On September 25, 2024, Sabrina Carpenter brought her first arena tour to Toronto, where she played a sold out show at the Scotiabank Arena. Carpenter put on quite the performance with outfit changes, an intricate set design and astonishing, thoroughly though-out production.

The setlist consisted of 21 songs, spanning Carpenter’s most recent and popular albums; 2022’s, emails I can’t send and 2024’s Short n’ Sweet.

As Carpenter played her hits such as “Nonsense”, “Espresso”, “Feather”, and “Please Please Please” amongst others, and deep cuts such as “Opposite”, “Dumb & Poetic” and “Lie To Girls” (amongst others), she danced around the intricate set design.

The stage design has a retro aesthetic and is intricate allowing it to paint many scenes. With two tower-like structures, balconies, bridges, staircases, a bedroom, bathroom, fireplace and piano, Carpenter and her dancers were able to imitate everything from a living room slumber party to a big city penthouse party. The stage also has a long cat-walk ending in a heart shape, which lifts into the air during “Juno”.

Carpenter and her dancers took advantage of the stage’s design to put on an engaging show as they not only sang and danced, but acted out scenes, corresponding to the “Short n’ Sweet Show”. Most of the interludes in between sets enhanced the idea that the whole concert was meant to imitate a retro evening show.

Just as the set shifted in-between acts, Carpenter’s wardrobe also changed. Playing into the video that plays as the show begins, Carpenter runs out in a bath towel, acting as though she’s late to her own concert. She takes off the towel to reveal a shimmering blue bodysuit, which she later pairs with a shear blue dress. Kicking off the first set with her latest single, “Taste”, followed by “Good Graces” and a scandalous performance of “Bed Chem”.

In between the high energy performances, Carpenter serenades us by the fireplace for “Slim Pickins”. Amongst other songs in the set, she also plays the acoustic guitar to perform the first half of “Lie To Girls” which is later mashed up with “Decode”.

The video interlude deeming act two ‘Sabrina After Dark’ sets the stage as a late night party in which Carpenter wears a shear black bodysuit, opening act two with a jazzy rendition of the emails i can’t send hit, “Feather”. Throughout the set, Carpenter performs many songs from her two latest albums including “Read Your Mind” and “Fast Times” amongst others; all featuring intricate choreography.
After performing the emails i can’t send lead single, “because i liked a boy”, Carpenter got emotional talking with the crowd about the process of writing the song and her time spent living in Toronto for various months.
Carpenter invites her dancers back on stage to perform “Coincidence” and Toronto’s cover song was Shania Twain’s, “That Don’t Impress Me Much”.
The set concludes with the hit “Nonsense”, in which Carpenter breaks the tradition of singing a city specific outro at every show.

Carpenter starts the third act in a sparkly long, black dress with silver details, in which she performed the heart-wrenching, “Dumb & Poetic”, followed by an onstage costume change in which she rips off the skirt to reveal a shorter dress and performs “Juno” -which was arguable the most exciting performance, between the dancers, lights, and stage design there was so much going on! Carpenter goes on to sing “Please Please Please” and ends the set with “Don’t Smile” – maintaining the evening show aesthetic as the credits roll just like at the end of a movie.

Carpenter returns for encore in a bejeweled Toronto Maple Leafs jersey and her classic ‘Sabrina Stompers’ to perform “Espresso”. As the song concludes, red and white confetti falls over the crowd and a blooper reel of Carpenter filming the video interludes plays.

All in all, the Short n’ Sweet tour is an impressive first arena tour for Carpenter. With its advanced stage design, intricate choreography and detailed storyline, it was both entertaining and impressive to watch. As for Carpenter, her stage presence, vocals and performance was as exceptional as last time I had the pleasure of seeing her on the emails i can’t send tour. My only complaint is the crowd. Despite Carpenter’s newfound success which has sky-rocketed her music career and fanbase, the crowd’s energy and excitement seemed significantly lower at this show than the emails i can’t send tour. There’s various reasons for this, perhaps it’s that she’s selling out arena’s because she’s “trendy”, not because she has that many dedicated fans, or Calgary crowds are more excited for her than Toronto. Regardless, Carpenter put on a hell of a show and it made me proud as a fan to get to be a part of her first arena tour!