The distance between San Diego’s Pechanga Arena and Humphreys Concerts by the Bay is only 3.8 miles, but for pop music sensation Sabrina Carpenter, the two venues could almost be on different planets.

The former Disney TV star drew 1,450 spectators to Humphreys for his April 2023 show at the intimate outdoor venue. Her stunning return to San Diego on Sunday night saw her perform a stylish, Broadway-worthy show in front of 11,000 wildly enthusiastic fans at Pechanga Arena, a concert for which – like all the other dates on her current “Short ‘n’ Tour” ‘Sweet’ — all tickets sold out within minutes.

“I’m so, so grateful that you’re all here tonight,” Carpenter said after opening her Pechanga concert with “Taste” and “Good Graces,” two of the first three songs from her new album “Short ‘n’ Sweet.”

Later, between her 12th and 13th selections of the evening, “Because I Loved a Boy” and “Coincidence,” the 25-year-old Carpenter recalled her debut here seven years ago.

“I remember the first time I played in San Diego, when I was quite young, in front of 200 people,” she said, apparently referring to her 2017 “De-Tour” date at Balboa Theater, where it was presented between Alex Aiono, also a presenter. and New Hope Club. “And now this arena is complete!” Thank you so much.”

If House of Blues — where Carpenter performed here in 2019 — was also on her mind, she didn’t say so. But almost everything changed dramatically for her in the gap of just over 18 months between her performances at Humphreys and Pechanga.

On August 23, Carpenter, 25, released “Short ‘n’ Sweet,” the third best-selling album of the year so far. She also scored one of the most popular songs of 2024 with the sparkling “Espresso,” which has been streamed more than 1.5 billion times on Spotify since its release six months ago.

To top it all off, last Friday saw Carpenter receives first Grammy nominations of his career – six in all – including for best new artist and album, record and song of the year. On December 6, she will star in Netflix’s holiday special, “A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter.”

How did all this happen? Is there a key to its dizzying rise? Hail, Tay Tay!

Carpenter was the opening act last fall and earlier this year on Taylor Swift’s 25-date “Eras” stadium tour in Latin America, Asia and Australia. Such a distinction provides invaluable global exposure, as Swift’s early opening acts like Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber can attest.

For good measure, Swift invited Carpenter to be a surprise guest at Swift’s Oct. 26 concert at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, where they performed a duet on three songs. Swift later wrote an Instagram post declaring that Carpenter is “the pop princess of our dreams.”

Do that, naughty but kind pop princess.

Blonde and petite, the 5-foot-5 Carpenter described “Short ‘n’ Sweet” as her “four-day ovulation album,” a concept that Madonna, Katy Perry or the late Prince might have thought of in first. The album’s sexually charged lyrics of a dozen songs contain more than a few expletives and innuendoes, as does Carpenter’s rendition of those songs here.

Her opening number Sunday, the bouncy “Taste,” salutes oral sex. “Bed Chem” features libidinous “oohs” and “ahs” between more references to oral sex and the size of a man’s appendage. The joyous “Juno” found Carpenter declaring, “I’m so excited!” as the capital word HORNY appeared in huge red letters on the video screens behind her.

During “Dumb & Poetic”, Carpenter’s lyrics referenced masturbation And legendary Canadian poet and singer-songwriter in a single verse. (The same song contains appealing, withering lines: “You’re so empathetic, you’d make a great wife / And I promise mushrooms don’t change your life”) Carpenter prefaced the song with a 1966 black-and-white film . Canadian television clip of Cohen interviewed on poetry by Adrienne Clarkson.

Then there was the gentle chant, “Please, please, please,” which contains the warning, “Don’t embarrass me, mother…”. By comparison, the verse “My bee, come and get this pollen” in “Espresso” – the closing number of the 90-minute concert – “seemed understated.

Of course, most of this is relatively tame by most current standards of perfectly acceptable pop music. And even as Carpenter moved around the stage wearing – in order – a red Victoria’s Secret corset bodysuit with red suspenders, a short blue nightie, a black lace capri jumpsuit and a sequined crop top and mini skirt, she seemed less like an R-rated vixen and more like an attractive girl-next-door who may or may not ovulate.

This persona was emphasized by the multi-tiered 1960s television variety show-style stage on which she performed. It looked like a cross between a set from last year’s hit film, “Barbie,” and a backdrop for a dance scene in the 1964 Elvis Presley/Ann-Margret film, “Viva Las Vegas “.

A seasoned performer, Carpenter dominated the stage throughout the show. She easily accomplished all of her goals in a meticulously choreographed three-act show that featured a five-piece band, two backing singers and nearly a dozen dancers in constant motion. His excellent bassist, Bobby Wooten III, was the last performed in San Diego in 2018 as part of “American Utopia” by David Byrne band.

She joyfully greeted the applause of her adoring audience with hand signals and pitting one side of the crowd against the other to see which was louder. The screams that followed were so piercing and sustained that the two schoolgirls in the row in front of me wisely covered their ears with their hands.

Carpenter isn’t a vocal powerhouse, but her well-crafted songs don’t require any heavy lifting, musically or emotionally. Neither does her bubbly version of Madonna’s “Material Girl.” Carpenter’s use of electronic sweetening to amplify his breathy vocals merits little discussion in an era of pop music where lip-syncing is more often the rule than the exception.

What made her concert more intriguing was that the audience – mostly teenage and pre-teen girls, along with some of their parents – enthusiastically sang along, word for word, to almost every selection.

Do Carpenter’s lighthearted odes to sex and desire convey a playful sense of empowerment, or a sense of young women seeking male approval through sexual seduction, or something else? Are such questions worth discussing further? You tell me.

Originally published: November 11, 2024 at 4:32 p.m. PST