My first memory of 25-year-old pop singer Sabrina Carpenter is from the 2014 Disney Channel show Girl Meets World, but my most recent impression is from her Nov. 18 Kia Forum Short n’ Sweet tour concert, and it’s clear that neither of us are the same person we were ten years ago. 

Girl Meets ‘Short n’ Sweet’

The contrast between the singer’s first single, “Can’t Blame a Girl or Trying,” which I listened to on repeat in 2014, to experiencing her newest album, Short n’ Sweet, in the car with my best friend on the day it was released this past summer was evident: Carpenter isn’t 15-years old and under a Disney contract anymore, but rather 25 and free from the squeaky-clean expectations of the kid-friendly studio. That freedom is especially apparent on her latest album (her sixth since 2015), and her Short n’ Sweet performances.

Even before Short n’ Sweet was released, I had purchased tickets to her tour. As a fan of Carpenter’s since her Girl Meets World days, I was expecting the album to be great. But what I wasn’t expecting was the number of sexually suggestive songs and mature themes on the 12-track album. 

Listening to the album for the first time, I remember exchanging shocked gasps and laughs with my friend. “She put that in the song?” I asked after every track. It was a drastic change from the Carpenter I’d grown up with. 

My show date was the last of her U.S. tour, so avoiding the ever-present online buzz of Carpenter’s performances was impossible. Clips from the show gained traction on social media for the concert’s sexually suggestive choreography and lewd lyrics, garnering criticism from some. “What happened to the music industry?” and “Doesn’t she know she has young fans?” were just a couple of the comments under posts of Carpenter performing her song “Juno” with its lyrics, “Wanna try out some freaky positions?”

But the controversies mainly just ramped up anticipation for the shows; shows which seemed to push the boundaries with each ensuing date. 

The Towel Drop

When my concert date finally arrived on Nov. 18, I suffered through my classes, restless, knowing I would soon be in the same arena as one of my favorite artists.

On the night of the show, the Forum was teeming with girls with outfits covered in kiss marks inspired by Carpenter’s iconic album covers; boyfriends reluctantly tagging along; and excited packs of pre-teens and teens shepherded around the concourse by oblivious parents. The appearance of young children was especially shocking given Carpenter’s notoriously risque lyrics and concert performances.

Before the show began, Carpenter treated the crowd to a never-before-seen trailer for her Netflix Christmas special, A Nonsense Christmas. The special features hit songs from Carpenter’s album fruitcake and special guests such as Chappell Roan, Kali Uchis, and Shania Twain.

To build suspense for Carpenter’s set, “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross pulsed from the arena’s speakers. On stage, a small heart intertwined with “SC” (Carpenter’s logo) expanded until the color red, a fitting hue for the show’s sex and love themes, saturated the screen.

The screen then displayed a vintage-style cartoon introduction to Carpenter, which transitioned into a video of her relaxing in a bathtub. A narrator asked, “Hold on, aren’t you forgetting something? What day is it today?” and a voice replied, “Ladies and gentlemen, here in Los Angeles, the Short n’ Sweet show!”

On screen, Carpenter ran across the stage, teasing the audience of 17,000 who screamed at the glimpse of the pop star. When the screen lifted, Carpenter appeared, clad only in a towel. She unclipped the wrap-around to reveal a fuchsia outfit with crystal inlays. The dropping of the towel had become a much-talked-about moment in the singer’s shows, a moment I’d seen online and eagerly anticipated.

The set on stage featured staircases, bedrooms (naturally), and a screen in the background displaying a city skyline at sunset. The dancers wore lingerie — fitting for Carpenter’s music’s sultry vibes — and performed a pantomime of a slumber party.

The skyline backdrop behind Carpenter then darkened and a silhouette of a man in a chair — a “therapist” — was lifted onto the stage. Carpenter sat next to the man and sang “Tornado Warnings” from her 2022 Emails I Can’t Send album. 

Two ballads followed — “Lie to Girls” and “Decode” — and then the hallmark of Carpenter’s shows began. 

‘Bed Chem’ at the Forum

“Bed Chem” choreography began with Carpenter and her female dancers on a silk-draped bed positioned at a corner of the stage. The lighting was dim and red, suggesting a more-than-just-friends slumber party. 

What ensued was the performance that set social media abuzz. 

A camera was positioned directly above Carpenter, dressed in red lingerie, and her dancers, recording their choreography which they performed lying down on the circular bed. It was a well-choreographed spectacle of writhing and gyrating as Carpenter sang her ubiquitous hit, “Bed Chem.”

At the end of the song, a pink curtain obscured the bed, with Carpenter and a male dancer in silhouette performing overtly sexual choreography. A second man then appeared in silhouette and Carpenter was swept off stage by both. 

I had figured the boundary-pushing pop star was saving her wildest moves for the last show of her tour as an electric send-off, and I was right.

Heart Shapes

After Carpenter disappeared with the men, there was an intermission of sorts — a cooling down from the previous set’s heat — with her band and dancers appearing from behind a curtain.

Soon, Carpenter emerged from backstage, clad in a black lace bodysuit accented with an orange feather boa sprawled over her diminutive shoulders.

Part of the criticism of Carpenter is about her revealing outfits, but her costumes, with their expert craftsmanship and intricate details, are breathtaking. They do more than sell the singer’s sexy image — they’re evidence of the genius and talent of the artist and her team, and overall, of the quality of her shows. 

Abruptly, Carpenter exclaimed, “I have to pee so bad!”, marking the start of another much-discussed (and debated) set.

On stage, a bathroom with a heart-shaped toilet appeared and the guitar intro of “Sharpest Tool” began. The singer kicked a pair of dancers out of the room, wiped down the seat, and sat on the toilet. Yes, she performs the song on a toilet. It’s an iconic and very unserious moment, a reminder of the sillier Carpenter audiences fell in love with during her three-year stint on Girl Meets World.

Her hit “because i liked a boy” from Emails I Can’t Send followed, and after an emotional performance, she sat on the heart-shaped stage at the end of the runway. The crowd chanted “Sabrina!” prompting the singer to embrace her knees and duck her head in embarrassment. It was a vulnerable moment that revealed that, despite performing so many shows and achieving so much fame, she’s still humble and she’s overwhelmed when audiences show (or in this case, scream) their love for her. 

“This is the last show of the North American leg and I have not processed a single moment in real time because it’s felt like a dream,” Carpenter told us. “We’re so excited to go across seas next year but it’s different from you guys because this is like a home to me. I grew up in L.A.” 

‘Have You Ever Tried This One?’

After the emotional reminiscing about her life in L.A., Carpenter’s dancers returned to the stage and the song “Coincidence” began. Carpenter clapped along as the audience participated in the “uh, na,na, na-na-na-na” chorus.

Next, Carpenter revealed a game of spin-the-bottle on stage, initiating the “surprise song” section of the show in which she chooses a song based on where the bottle lands.

The familiar guitar riff of Rick James’ “Super Freak” began and I was immediately filled with euphoria. Here was my favorite artist from my childhood performing my favorite song from my childhood. Singing this song from start to finish at the top of my lungs was the highlight of the concert. My throat was numb from screaming, my feet ached from dancing in ballet pumps, and I was dehydrated, but none of it mattered and the show, as they say, must go on.

After another intermission (the show was about two hours long), Carpenter returned to the stage in a glittering silver two-piece dress for a powerful performance of the ballad “Dumb and Poetic.” 

Next came “Juno” which involved Carpenter selecting a member of the crowd to be “arrested” with fuzzy pink handcuffs for being “too hot.” Sometimes she selects a random (and very lucky) audience member, but occasionally, she chooses a celebrity or internet personality.

The “arrested” that night was Jack Antonoff, the lead singer of Bleachers, songwriter, and super producer for artists like Taylor Swift and Carpenter herself. 

Antonoff stepped off-screen and his spouse and The Substance actress, Margaret Qualley, appeared. Carpenter, in a nod to Qualley’s horror movie role, called her “a hottie with a substance.” 

Carpenter let her long silver skirt fall to the ground, revealing a much shorter one underneath, beginning the suggestive surprise everyone was waiting for. Every show, Carpenter debuts a new erotic position to go with her now-iconic line, “Have you ever tried this one?” It’s a popular staple of her show and the moment that, since the tour’s debut, has resulted in the most online debate. 

‘Needless to Say’

As Carpenter ran up to her heart stage, the audience went quiet with anticipation. 

The lighting segued to a calm blue, signifying that it was morning, and the “slumber party” was about to end. Carpenter’s dancers were slumped around the stage “sleeping” as the screens played a newscast. 

Finally, Carpenter emerged onto the stage and introduced one final time. Holding a steaming coffee mug, Carpenter sang “Espresso,” her most popular song. (The track currently has 1.7 billion plays on Spotify.) Carpenter woke up her dancers and band and the performance began. Everyone in the Forum sang loudly along with Carpenter, drowning out the singer’s vocals. It was a powerful moment of community — 17,000 voices singing as one — and was yet another highlight of a show filled with memorable moments. 

As the concert closed, Carpenter said her final thank yous to her dancers, her band, and the audience as confetti fell from the ceiling.

10 years ago, I was a rule-following “goody-two-shoes” who would have cringed at the idea of watching a performer, especially a favorite star from the Disney Channel, sing explicit songs and perform provocatively on stage. But now, as an 18-year old with the maturity to better understand and appreciate an artist’s creative choices, I walked out of the Forum even more awed by Carpenter and her music.

10 years ago, while sitting in front of the TV and binging episodes of Girl Meets World, I was star-struck by the charismatic Carpenter, and a decade later, I was star-struck once again, but this time as witness to the artist’s brilliance in person.