Live Shot: Healing hearts with Sabrina Carpenter

After an electrifyingly joyful cover of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” embellished with twangy guitars and twirls in a bedazzled, feathery pink dress, Sabrina Carpenter pauses after noticing a fan at the front of the stage holding a phone number. Curious, the singer handed the mic to the fan, who described a messy situationship to a crowd of 3,000 before popping the ultimate question: “should I text him back?”

“Don’t text his ass!” said the starlet of the night. “I don’t know why I think I can give advice. You’ve heard the album.”

Touring her fifth studio album, emails i can’t send, the 23-year-old made heartbreak a dazzling and intoxicating experience at the ACL Live at Moody Theater on March 26.

“Hands up if you’re heartbroken,” said Carpenter. 

Every other hand shot up proudly. Heart motifs defined the night as the former Disney star hurdled through all stages of heartache, starting with depression. Carpenter insecurely stared into a large kitschy, red, heart-shaped mirror lined with LED bulbs and red velvet during “opposite,” while lamenting, “she looks nothing like me, so why do you look so happy?” over a soft and melancholic keyboard. Carpenter took a confident turn in attitude during the show’s second half with “bet u wanna,” where she danced like no one else was watching. Posing the question, “when you don’t have control of who I’m holdin’, is it feedin’ all your fears?” while flipping her blonde locks and dropping to her knees in a cathartic moment of self-love as a heavy drumbeat punctuated every word.  

“Nonsense” is synonymous with “encore” to the audience who incessantly cheered for the single once the Pennsylvania native disappeared backstage. Carpenter emerged from behind the heart-shaped mirror, delivered the anticipated laid-back, rhythmic pop hit and changed the last line to “I think the hottest people live in Austin” before hundreds of red heart-shaped balloons rained down from the sky. Some lucky fans caught some love and clutched it to their hearts, signifying that things would be alright. 

Setlist

1. emails i can’t send

2. Read your Mind

3. Feather 

4. Vicious 

5. Already Over

6. Bad for Business

7. Skinny Dipping

8. things i wish you said

9. Tornado Warnings

10. opposite

11. bet u wanna

12. You’re So Vain (Carly Simon cover) 

13. how many things 

14. Fast Times

15. Paris

16. Honeymoon Fades

17. Sue Me

18. decode

Encore:

1. Nonsense

2. because i liked a boy

This article was submitted as an assignment for the Music Journalism course at the University of Texas at Austin taught by professor Raul Hernandez.