Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK 

Opened by the glowing Rachel Chinouriri, the UK leg of Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet tour has been nothing short of a delight. We attended the Birmingham show on Thursday, March 6th, at the Utilita Arena. Here is our rundown.  

Swamped by a sea of baby blue and glitter, the crowd eagerly waited for the show to start. By 7 pm, the floor was filled, with small gaps to the sides and back for latecomers to fill in. This by chance, is when Rachel Chinouriri took the stage and gave the crowd a show to remember. For the replay team, this was an exciting moment, our Editor is a long time fan and was buzzing to hear It Is What It Is live, which Rachel performed. Her 30-minute set was the perfect balance of hype and intrigue, leaving fans wanting more but also getting them warmed up for Sabrina.  

By 8 pm, fans were ready to scream along to the newest pop princess, but we still had 30 minutes of waiting. Soundtracked by a playlist of banners as the seats filled up.  

As 8:30 pm rolled around, the crowd was ravenous for the show to start, and it did. A cute intro video set us up for the comedic tone of the show, as the former Disney star realised the show was about to start whilst she was taking a bath.  

We were surprised with a new pink and black bodysuit for Taste, as the performance started, with her signature towel reveal. The Espresso singer brings a certain charm to her performances, as everything from the vintage aesthetic and her bombshell curls portray a vision of refined elegance and innocence as she effortlessly sings about seduction and the disappointment that can be dating men.  

The show was a feast for the eyes, with the innovative home setup and the songs and costuming walking you through the house party that was the Short n’ Sweet tour. You can tell that Miss Carpenter has a love for the theatre, as the show is a love letter to the stage.  

Not once was there a dull moment in this show, as even the ballads and sad songs had an element of theatrics. For example, during Sabrina Carpenter’s performance of Opposite, the curtained-off bathroom set of the stage was used to project her face onto the set, there was a mirror for the latter half of the song, which in the VCR reflected hearts in her eyes as if she was mesmerised. No detail was left unexplored and it really elevated the show.   

Of course, the crowd was eagerly awaiting her chart-topping hits, we recall people standing near us murmuring, “When’s she going to sing Espresso?”. But there was a lot of love for her older tracks, with loud cheers for Fast Times and Tornado Warnings – okay they’re not that old, but the gist is, the crowd wasn’t full of Espresso-only fans.  

Like many other artists, Sabrina has implemented a surprise song in her set, with a spin-the-bottle mechanism to choose it. For our night, her chosen song was Mamma Mia! And the crowd went wild. ABBA with a British audience is always going to hit.   

All in all, it was a fantastic show. The only downside of the show was the heart stage. Although it was raised during Juno, throughout the rest of the show it was sunken to make a vintage-style seating area. This meant that those further from the stage could not see Miss Carpenter unless she stood up or they watched the screens, even though she was right in front of them. Sabrina is famously short (and sweet).  

We’re ready to see Miss Sabrina Carpenter and her Naked Wolfe boots take over the world.