Rams Head Live, Oct. 1

In anticipation of her appearance on stage, fans eagerly chanted Sabrina Carpenter’s name. Chants erupted into screams as the giant heart on stage lit up and Carpenter walked up and sat in front of the keyboard. As she played the intro to her newest album’s title track, “emails i can’t send,” the screams ceased for a moment while she enthralled them with her presence. Carpenter captivated the audience, filling the venue with her passion and vulnerability as she crooned the rest of the ballad. 

Released on July 15, Carpenter’s album, “emails i can’t send,” exposed a part of her the world wasn’t familiar with, filled with emotional songwriting and head-bobbing choruses. Theorized by fans (and the internet), the album was meant to be a response to the backlash she received from fans of Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett in 2021. Following the release of Grammy-winning song “drivers license” by Rodrigo, listeners firmly believed that the “blonde girl” mentioned was Carpenter, and that she was the reason Bassett and Rodrigo were no longer seen together. Carpenter released “Skin” two weeks after “drivers license.” Here she sang, “maybe ‘blonde’ was the only rhyme,” in reference to Rodrigo’s song, only causing her to receive more backlash. In another song, “because i liked a boy,” from her album, Carpenter mentioned being called a homewrecker and being sent numerous death threats, all due to “internet illusions.” Although heartbreak and loss were themes evident throughout the album, songs like “Nonsense” and “bet u wanna” hinted at Carpenter gaining confidence and not being afraid of others’ opinions anymore. 

After powering through her first song, Carpenter raised the energy in the room as she strutted down the catwalk singing “bet u wanna” to the crowd. Taking advantage of the entire stage, she engaged the audience with her rich vocals as she sang “Vicious,” “Read your Mind,” and “Already Over.” She then picked up her guitar and stood in front of the microphone stand, indicating to the audience that the next song would be more mellow in contrast to those previously sung. Phone flashlights went in the air as Carpenter sang “how many things.” Her voice was laced with raw emotion and the crowd swayed in the packed pit as they sang every lyric back to her. After a round of applause, she sat down with her guitarist as she took a moment to talk to the audience about a song she wrote when she was 14 that recently went viral on TikTok. She then proceeded to sing “Can’t Blame a Girl For Trying,” a song that every single person in the audience knew the words to because of its reminiscent feel. The song did not leave the crowd with a dry eye; its nostalgia brought back memories of Carpenter’s Disney Channel days, when a bright-eyed girl wanted to write songs about her decisions when it came to love. 

“Nonsense” had been a fan-favorite from the moment the album was released, which made her singing it all the more special. The ending of “Nonsense” featured a short ad-lib section of Carpenter making up lyrics garnered towards the city she was playing in at the time. This was a moment fans looked forward to every night after the first time she did it; it became something just Carpenter and the crowd shared. 

Throughout the show, every song had an ever-lingering feel of heartbreak; yet, instead of bottling it up, Carpenter and her fans decided it should be celebrated. “emails i can’t send” was Carpenter’s  reflection of her most fragile thoughts and feelings towards heartbreak. The tour was her method of achieving closure. The crowd seemed to be on the same page as her as they screamed when she asked, “Who here has had their heart broken?” Despite all that Carpenter and the crowd had gone through, there seemed to be a common denominator between her and them: the unifying strength of her music. Every song was relatable — the pain, the realization, the reeling, and finally, the healing — all resonated with the crowd that night as Carpenter sang “decode,” a ballad about her inability to accept situations that are out of her control.

Despite the energy declining further into the night, the last song she played had the audience singing the loudest. The crowd let loose any inhibitions they’d been holding back as they screamed the chorus to “because i liked a boy.” As Carpenter held the high note on the bridge, red heart balloons were released and fell into the crowd, forming a sea of once-broken hearts, which were now being put back together. 

“emails i can’t send” is available on all streaming platforms.