The 6 Cheekiest Moments From Sabrina’s Short N’ Sweet Tour
Can we talk about the “Bed Chem” set?
Sabrina Carpenter leaves quite an impression — especially when you see her on tour. The singer kicked off the Short n’ Sweet Tour, her first-ever arena trek, on Sept. 23. By the time she rolled around to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (not far from the Williamsburg neighborhood she used to live) on Sept. 30, her show had become a TikTok-viral sensation that marks her official ascent into pop stardom.
The Short n’ Sweet Tour is filled with the spectacle and surprises we’ve come to expect from pop predecessors like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, but it’s imbued with Carpenter’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and niche throwback references. The setlist includes every song from Short n’ Sweet (stay ‘til the end for “Espresso”), as well as some standout tracks from 2022’s emails i can’t send, making for a healthy mix of danceable jams, tear-jerker ballads, and even comedic ballads.
But Carpenter’s show shines brightest when it gets flirty, totally unserious, and straight-up horny, with many moments that bring her saucy humor to life on stage. Here are the six cheekiest moments from Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet Tour.
Opening The Show In A Towel
Carpenter crafted one of the most comedic and memorable entrances in recent memory, rushing around her onstage penthouse to finish “getting ready” as the opening credits roll. After a delayed introduction, she finally emerges on stage in a towel — which she then takes off to reveal a studded bodysuit and garters as she launches into “Taste.”
Proof Of Her “Bed Chem”
After a wink-y phone sex advert, Carpenter’s dancers close the curtains on her penthouse as she sings “Bed Chem” atop a circular bed, not unlike Madonna’s infamous Blond Ambition Tour (but without the cone bra). Things get particularly steamy at the end, as one of her male dancers takes off his shirt — right when she pulls out a pair of handcuffs.
Singing On The Toilet
In one of the most unexpected yet strangely poignant moments of the night, Carpenter sings “Sharpest Tool,” her twangy thumper about a dumb, naive man (rumored to be Shawn Mendes), while sitting atop a toilet in her bathroom. Now, that’s how you do toilet humor, Katy Perry.
Playing Spin The Bottle
At every show, Carpenter plays a round of Spin the Bottle with her dancers — except no one kisses each other. Instead, the bottle lands on one of four spots that each represents a different cover song she’ll perform, including ABBA’s “Mamma Mia!” and Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”
Carpenter covered herself at the Brooklyn show, performing her new song “Busy Woman” live for the first time.
The “Nonsense” Outro — Or Lack Thereof
While opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, Carpenter crafted a new outro for “Nonsense” each night, which just got more NSFW with each show. But on the Short n’ Sweet Tour, her mic cuts out and she starts descending below the stage as the screens behind her experience “technical difficulties.”
The tradition is now replaced by a hilarious skit that’s just as laugh-inducing as her outros, and involves at least one Beyoncé-style firing. Carpenter knows how to keep us on our toes.
The Entirety Of “Juno”
Carpenter signals the beginning of “Juno” by flirting with a hot guy in the audience (sometimes played by her friends), and she keeps up the thirst throughout, demonstrating a different sex position when she sings, “Have you ever tried this one?”
The most unserious moment comes when Carpenter sings the bridge on a heart-shaped platform raised above the audience, and just the word “horny” flashes on the screen behind her. She clearly ignored the “show, don’t tell” mantra, and the show is much funnier for it.
