Sabrina Carpenter: Emails I Can't Send Tour

SABRINA CARPENTER: EMAILS I CAN’T SEND UK/EU TOUR

18.06.2023 @ O2 Academy, Birmingham (3009 Capacity)

Written June 2023

Similarly to Emlyn, I started listening to Sabrina's music in the pandemic, but I had heard of her and her music beforehand - I already had the odd song of hers in my music library. When I first had a look at Sabrina's music discography, I was shocked to learn that she already had 4 albums out as she had little-to-no mainstream music marketing and promotion. However, I soon found out that it was because she was signed to Hollywood records who did virtually nothing to promote her and her music, depended on her acting career to stimulate exposure. Making the switch to Island records in January 2021 & releasing her single 'skin', quite possibly saved Sabrina's career - although she was receiving the exposure she needed, in my opinion, it still wasn't the amount she deserved. 

Her 5th album, 'emails I can't send' is her best. The main single, 'because I liked a boy' perfectly encapsulates being in the spotlight whilst also being in love & going through heartbreak simultaneously. My personal favourite on the album is 'bet u wanna'. Although, I think that my favourite song of hers is 'diamonds are forever' off her 3rd album 'singular act 1', a badass power ballad with heavy strings that sound as if it could be a bond theme (hence the name).

This was my first time properly queueing up for a concert during the day & it was a fun experience. We were able to talk to people in the queue & it paid off as we were within an arm's reach of the barrier. 

Something I particularly like is that the opener, Annika Bennet, didn't have a band - it was just her, her guitar and backing tracks which we could see from our point of view open on her laptop as she started/stopped them herself. She was great and I can't wait to see her career grow in the coming years.

When Sabrina came on, she was right in front of us on a balcony set, with her keyboard in front of her to start the concert off with the title track of the album. 

I particularly loved seeing some of her more upbeat songs live as Sabrina is known for her amazing live vocals almost indistinguishable from the studio versions. My favourite song of the night has to be a tie between ‘bet u wanna’ & ‘read your mind’, both of which are my favourites on the album anyway & seeing them live was just a dream come true.

One segment of the show that I loved was ‘unsubscribe’ which is when she asks someone in the audience for a heartbreak/drama experience they’ve been through, offers advice &/or then dedicates the night’s cover to them. On our night, the guy who took part had a particularly entertaining story with so many plot twists, I lost count. I think most people did too though. After comparing himself to Sabrina’s song ‘feather’, she then sang Britney Spears’ ‘Baby one more time’ as the night's cover. Another thing everyone loves is that, in her song ‘nonsense’ she changes the outro as the original is a bunch of random ad libs, so she can change it easily. Commonly, whilst performing it, she’ll try to co-ordinate the outro with whatever city she’s in or what late-night show she’s on. For example, at the Manchester date it was: “Should I root for City or United?/You know footballs get me so excited/Manchester I love to be inside it”. On (our) the Birmingham date, the outro was: “All the names of British boys, i'm learnin’ ‘em/Everyone i date i keep returnin’ ‘em/God i love the accent here in Birmingham'' She pronounced Birmingham with a proper brummie accent too which made it so much better.

This was my first show at an O2 venue in a while - it was a lot more professional than other concerts I've been to recently. It was also the first show I'd taken my digital camera to, as opposed to just my phone, so I was able to (try) take some pictures that are better quality without using up my phone's storage

After the show, as we were leaving, I took a picture of the sound & lighting desks at the back of the venue & struck up a conversation with one of the lighting techs, Kat, who'd worked on tours for Lizzo, Lizzy McAlpine & Turnstile. It was really nice to talk to someone who was willing too & find out more about what goes on behind-the-scenes at a show of this size.

I was looking forward to this show for a while & it certainly lived up to my expectations. Sabrina is an amazing performer & entertainer and I loved every minute of this experience. To be at her first ever Birmingham show, on her first UK/EU headline tour, was so magical & I’ll definitely be going to see her again in the future.