Sabrina Carpenter comforts fans going through heartbreak in Manila show

American pop star Sabrina Carpenter left the Filipino crowd vibing and singing their hearts out during the sold-out Manila stop of her emails i can’t send tour last July 25 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City.

Fans dressed in shades of pink, red, and white eagerly “warmed up” to the 10-minute version of Taylor Swift’s All Too Well, which played while waiting for the show to start.

The all-seated show found the opposite as the audience got off their seats the moment the songstress, who looked like a real-life Barbie in her pink bralette and miniskirt, and white platform boots, played the piano to begin the show and sing the tour’s namesake track.

Sabrina awed the crowd with her live vocals, strong stage presence, with happy twirls and hip-swinging moves, as she performed all songs off her fifth album, emails i can’t send, such as Read Your Mind, Vicious, Tornado Warnings, Fast, Times, Bad For Business, skinny dipping, and opposite.

Apart from knowing every lyric by heart and dancing to the beat of the songs from Sabrina’s setlist, fans took it all in and let their emotions out just as what the singer-songwriter had asked them to freely do.

Coming back to the country was a “surreal” experience for Sabrina, who last visited Manila in 2018 for a series of her Live and Acoustic shows.

“I feel very grateful that you, guys, sold out the show so quickly,” the former Disney actress said while also apologizing that it took her five years to return to the Philippine stage.

“You’re such a great crowd. I feel so lucky that you guys put such care and consideration into everything it takes to be here tonight in this room. And I just wanna say from the bottom of my heart how much I love you and I’m grateful for you,” Sabrina addressed her Pinoy fans.

The 24-year-old spiced up the night with a cover of Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time and previously released tracks Paris, Honeymoon Fades, and Sue Me.

And finally, Sabrina’s hotly anticipated performance of Nonsense, which is famed for each outro she makes for every city on her tour.

“His ex is a motel, I’m a villa. He said I taste better than vanilla. What’s your favorite city? Mine’s Manila,” Sabrina crooned, sending fans wild.

Explaining why Manila is her favorite, Sabrina took a moment to express her thanks to her Pinoy fans for helping make Nonsense become a hit song.

“This place was the first place that that song was taking off. You, guys, made sense in the very beginning and you started making hella videos on TikTok of you dancing. And it kinda all started here, so thank you, guys, for everything you’ve done,” she said.

Aside from catchy and relatable songs, fans also got to hear words of wisdom from Sabrina, particularly reminding everyone that healing is a process and takes time.

“I gave myself the grace and space and time to heal, and healing doesn’t mean just waking up one day and deciding everything’s okay. It means giving yourself all the days to have, good or bad. We take it in increments, until we get better,” Sabrina said before introducing her song decode.

Celebrities such as Moira dela Torre, Sassa Gurl and Niana Guerrero were spotted attending Sabrina’s show. Sabrina even collaborated with Niana on a new TikTok dance for her song Feather backstage.

Andrea Brillantes also shared the spotlight with Sabrina after being chosen by the singer for her unSABscribe segment, where she “invaded” a fan’s personal life and let them open up about their heartbreak.

“You look angry girl… you look mad,” Sabrina said, spotting in the front row Andrea, who unbeknownst to her, was a known local celebrity.

Cheers erupted when Andrea appeared onscreen and introduced herself, driving the curiosity of Sabrina.

“Let her talk. Why is she mad? I wanna know!” Sabrina said as she extended the mic to Andrea and shushed the crowd.

“Actually, I think they know,” Andrea responded as she struggled to find the words out of being starstruck with the American artist.

“There’s just a lot of people who have also betrayed me and have also kind of ruined my reputation. Even though they’re not true and I’m also just a victim but I never told them anything,” Andrea vaguely shared.

After receiving hints from the crowd about Andrea’s supposed past relationship heartache, Sabrina quipped: “Oh, it’s a guy? No sh*t, it’s always a guy. I’m kidding.”

“Is he here?” Sabrina asked, getting no’s from the audience. “Well, he doesn’t have taste,” she added nonchalantly.

“It was like you’re the one who was speaking to them for me. That’s why I love your songs so much,” Andrea said, thanking Sabrina for helping her cope with what she was going through with her songs.

The same thing goes with other fans, including 22-year-old fan Jerome Racela, who said he was able to enjoy the night, screaming his heart out to Sabrina’s songs.

“Her songs really helped me get through tough times, and hearing (them) live, it just feels really surreal,” Jerome said in a quick interview with The Philippine STAR.

“A lot of her songs are really sentimental to me. Some songs really speak my heart out, resonate with what I feel, so sobrang memorable for me,” he added.

Sabrina capped off the one-and a-half-hour concert tour with fans chanting and raving in chorus to the lyrics of because i liked a boy before red heart-shaped confetti showered the venue. Fans could only look forward to Sabrina’s promised new music and return to bring another pop hit.

Sabrina’s email i can’t send tour in Manila was presented by Live Nation Philippines.