Last weekend, pint-sized pop princess Sabrina Carpenter dazzled a 65,000-strong crowd at London’s BST Hyde Park, delivering not just one but two sold-out shows that cemented her status as one of the defining voices of the moment.
Despite 2025 marking the 10th anniversary of Sabrina’s debut album, the last 12 months have seen her career reach stratospheric heights, proving it really does take 10 years to become an “overnight success.”
Supported by a lineup of powerhouse women, including Amber Mark, Olivia Dean and Clairo, this show felt like a celebration of everything Carpenter has been working towards.
Sabrina opened the show with ‘Busy Woman’, which was especially fitting – she’s been on the road since 2022 (with the Emails I Can’t Send Tour, The Eras Tour and the Short n’ Sweet Tour) and is releasing her new album Man’s Best Friend in August, just a year after her Grammy-winning, universally acclaimed hit, Short n’ Sweet.
The 17-track setlist took us on a journey through Carpenter’s two most recent albums with a look ahead to her next offering, which is arguably her most eagerly anticipated – and controversial – yet. The crowd (mostly teen girls and their parents, admittedly making me feel old at 28) knew all the words and made sure everyone around them knew it.
Chart-toppers ‘Taste’, ‘Please, Please, Please’ and ‘Manchild’ undoubtedly made fans go wild, whilst an acoustic version of ‘Sharpest Tool’ and ‘Because I Liked a Boy’ later in the show allowed for a change of pace – the lyrics of which felt particularly reflective given the conversations surrounding Carpenter’s upcoming album.
Ever the theatrical performer, Sabrina didn’t let that emotion sit for too long. The show was laced with her signature nod-and-wink interludes and crowd interactions. A “parental discretion” warning blazed across the screen as the final act of the show began.
That alert was related to ‘Bed Chem’, which is known to be one of the more risqué parts of the show. This time, the audience was treated to a special Pride-themed outro that saw Sabrina and two of her dancers recreate that scene from Challengers, before jokingly falling back onto the bed behind closing curtains and receiving rapturous applause from fans. This may have been a playful blink-and-you-miss-it moment, however on the last day of Pride Month, it was revealed that the gay-icon-in-the-making has raised over $1 million for LGBTQIA+ rights, mental health initiatives and animal welfare – all in less than a year.
@gaytimes It’s giving Challengers… Sabrina Carpenter wished London a happy Pride with her performance of ‘Bed Chem’ at BST Hyde Park 🔥 #sabrinacarpenter #bsthydepark #bedchem #pride #sabrinacarpenteredit #sabrina #concerts ♬ original sound – GAY TIMES
And the LGBTQIA+ representation didn’t end there. During ‘Juno’, where Sabrina “arrests” a member of the audience for “being too hot,” Ayo Edebiri and Clairo made a hilarious appearance, recreating Charli xcx’s now-viral ‘Apple’ dance, before being told “that’s a different show” by the songstress, making light of the similarities to a segment on the Brat Tour.
For her penultimate song, Carpenter made her way through the crowd (where she seemed genuinely excited to be amongst her fans, some of whom she even recognised) and onto a moving crane for an emotional rendition of ‘Don’t Smile’.
Sabrina closed the show with a dynamic performance of her biggest hit, ‘Espresso’, which began with the superstar downing a coffee-infused martini and reminding us all just how eagerly we’re awaiting 2025’s song of the summer (please, it’s almost August!). Fireworks shot out above the stage and swathes of fans in summer dresses and bows took in the last moments with their main pop girlie.
Without a doubt, Sabrina Carpenter is on her way to becoming an icon. This Disney starlet has evolved into a defining voice of music – one that’s unapologetically her own, deeply self-aware, and above all else, so much fun.
The Short n’ Sweet Tour is back in the US later this year. Find out more and grab your tickets here.
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