This article includes spoilers for the Short n’ Sweet tour.
2024 has become the year of concert tours: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour continued, Troye Sivan and Charli XCX’s Sweat Tourand the start of Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour. As an avid concert goer, I’ve had the opportunity to see nearly every one of my favourite artists live. However, one stood out to me: Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Tour.
Back in July, I dropped a solid amount of money on two Short n’ Sweet tickets for my sister and I, not exactly knowing what to expect from the popstar. I’d admired her for years and adored her music, but I never had the privilege of seeing her live. As the concert date came closer, I decided on my outfit: a baby blue strapless dress and white platform go-go boots that matched the aesthetic of the new album. And then, the day arrived.
The Outfits
One of my favourite things about the tour wasn’t anything from the show itself, but the effort the fans put into their Sabrina-inspired outfits. The entire arena was filled with girls wearing platform boots, pastel clothes, heart-cut out tops and bows in their hair. My sister and I were admiring outfits hours before the show started, as everyone was fitting the theme but were also so unique in their takes on Sabrina’s style. Not only were the fans drop-dead gorgeous, but they might’ve been the sweetest people ever. Even when waiting in line for merchandise for nearly 45 minutes, we had the nicest conversations with strangers who offered to take our pictures and showered us with compliments. Sabrina fans did not hold back.
The Merchandise
Concert merchandise has definitely risen in price since the pandemic, with concert tees often ranging from $50 to $85 and sweaters being well over $100. Sabrina’s merchandise was no exception to this increase because prices were quite high. However, I can honestly say that I have never seen more wearable merchandise from any artist in my life. Every shirt was cute, girly and matched the aesthetic of the concert. Honestly, I wanted it all. I landed on a top that I have worn almost daily since the show, and I can say that it is truly merchandise worth buying.
Act I
The show began with a cute opening video with a vintage aesthetic that followed throughout the entire show. The stage itself was adorable and had an old movie feel to it. Opening the show with Taste was such a good choice, as it set the tone for the rest of the show. My personal favourite performance from Act 1 was Bed Chem, where she wore a slip dress and pranced around in a cozy-looking bed with her girls. It gave sweet and spicy all at once, and each song had so much thought behind the performance.
Act II
The second act, titled “Sabrina After Dark,” was set at nighttime, which I thought was clever. The jazz remix of Feather was a great way to open the second act, especially since it was followed by two more songs from Emails I Can’t Send. The highlight of this act, however, had to be Sabrina’s completely unserious method of singing Sharpest Tool from a toilet, completely obliterating all the trashy men we’ve all fallen for at one point in time. My all-time favourite part of the show occurred toward the end of this act. Sabrina entered the heart-shaped conversation pit with her back-up dancers for an intimate performance of Spin the Bottle during the surprise song portion of the show. As someone who was in the first row of the lower bowl, being that close to her made me shake. The act ended in Nonsense, without an outro, which made a nice completion to that era.
Act III
The shortest but most anticipated act of the show began with a simplistic performance of Dumb & Poetic, where I could tell that the mic was on. Following this was the most talked-about and spicy performance, Juno, featuring Sabrina positioning herself in a sexy position on the conversation pit catwalk area. She completed this act with Don’t Smile, the perfect outro song that played as credits rolled behind her as if the show she just put on for us was ending. However, we all know nothing is complete without the song of the summer: Espresso. Sabrina, unlike in other cities, came out in a new outfit, a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey that was actually bedazzled by a Scotiabank Arena worker. She had the entire arena up on their feet, singing and dancing to the song we all love. Once Sabrina left the stage, a cute pre-recorded goodbye video of her played, and it was a perfect, witty way to end the show.
Overall
The show was one of the most well-thought-out, put-together and aesthetically pleasing concerts to ever exist. The vintage, old-school aesthetic of the stage, along with the video and effects, added an element to the concert that made it feel more like a performance. Her costumes were gorgeous, and with each act, she changed into a new, aesthetically fitting outfit that was both pastel and perfect. If you’re wondering whether this show is worth the money, it is. After seeing how much effort her team put into making the show feel personal, intimate and like a production all in one, I wouldn’t think twice about seeing this show again.