While making her headlining debut last night (Sept. 29) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Sabrina Carpenter acknowledged the ongoing controversy involving her 2023 video for “Feather” and its speculative role in mayor Eric Adams having just been indicted on federal bribery and campaign finance charges.
For context, the gory, innuendo-laden “Feather” was filmed last year at a Brooklyn Catholic church with the permission of Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, who was eventually demoted from his job following community outrage. Gigantiello’s relationship with former Adams chief of staff Frank Carone is one of the key issues in the indictment, but his role in green-lighting the “Feather” shoot appears to be entirely unrelated, despite rampant media speculation to the contrary.
“Damn, what now?,” Carpenter asked the sold-out Short n’ Sweet tour crowd following a cover of ABBA’s “Mamma Mia.” “Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted?”
The 25-year-old artist, who grew up north of Philadelphia, admitted it has been a lifelong dream to play MSG. She recalled her first proper New York show at age 17 at the former Highline Ballroom, which held just 700 people. “Y’all were not there,” she joked. “Some of y’all might have been, but it was a very small room. I couldn’t breathe. It was super hot. My whole life I’ve always wanted to play Madison Square Garden, but I wasn’t sure if the first time I ever played it would be to a sold-out crowd, so thank you so much.”
“This whole year has been such a special dream come true to me because of you guys — because of every single person in this room,” added Carpenter, who has exploded in 2024 with the release of Short n’ Sweet (Island) and singles such as “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste.” “I got to write this album by just having a big old fucking laugh with my friends, and now everyone’s in a room having a laugh with their friends. Hopefully, we can keep that going.”
Under the creative direction of Carpenter’s sister Sarah and Dannah Gottlieb, the show’s ingenious set design revolves around the interior of a retro-cool penthouse apartment, complete with a three-story window, two spiral staircases, a fireplace and, of course, a fur-covered, circular bed on which Carpenter belted out “Bed Chem.” A heart-shaped conversation pit at the end of the runway was also put to good use during a stripped-down performance of “Coincidence,” helping turn the cavernous arena into an intimate singalong.
Carpenter’s irreverent personality shone through at nearly every moment, whether it was kneeling on a fur rug in front of the fireplace and taking a shot of liquor during “Slim Pickins,” performing while seated on a toilet during “Sharpest Tool,” dancing with abandon atop the elevated conversation pit during “Juno,” or leading a crowd full of adolescents to chant “I won’t give a fuck about you” in “Good Graces.”
Clever interstitial videos gave the show an added retro feel, evoking the long-gone Playboy channel as well as old-school infomercials. A fake glitch took over the video screens as Carpenter was lowered through the stage during “Nonsense,” and she was then heard to comically argue with an unseen announcer about her usual post-song banter being cut.
Towards the end of the show, Carpenter paid tribute to the dedication of her fans, who were deafeningly loud and dressed to the nines — often in homemade clothing. “I see outfits that you guys hand-stitched and sewed and hand-bedazzled with the bedazzler guns, which I didn’t even know they [still] made,” she enthused. “I see makeup that’s done really, really well and impressively to the theme of the show and the album. Also, I know how many of you guys all traveled to be here and took cars and planes and trains. That means the world to me. So, thank you so much for taking the time out of your lives to choose to be in this place today.”
The Short ‘n Sweet tour runs through Nov. 17-18 in Los Angeles before resuming overseas on March 3 in Dublin. Carpenter will also star in her own Netflix holiday special, A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter, which premieres Dec. 6.