Sabrina Carpenter Brings Her Hits (and Susan Sarandon?) To Coachella

“How you feeling, Sabrinawood?” Sabrina Carpenter asked arsenic she gazed retired astatine nan tens of thousands of fans she’d gathered into a makeshift metropolis Friday night. “I can’t judge I’m headlining Coachella.

“I mean, I tin a small bit.”

Indeed, erstwhile Carpenter made her Coachella debut successful 2024, nan Disney kid turned popular icon vowed that nan adjacent clip she played nan godforsaken festival, her sanction would beryllium atop nan bill.

She returned arsenic promised this play arsenic 1 of music’s biggest acts, pinch 2 No. 1 singles and a brace of Grammy-nominated albums nether her loop and a communicative to show astir her emergence to stardom.

Heading into Coachella, I’d wondered whether Carpenter, 26, would simply play nan aforesaid show she’d already brought respective times to L.A. (as precocious arsenic November) connected circuit down 2025’s “Short n’ Sweet” and past year’s “Man’s Best Friend.”

To her credit, though, she created a full caller production, which began pinch a video successful which Carpenter is pulled complete by a constabulary connection played by nan character Sam Elliott arsenic she drives toward a caller life successful Hollywood. In nan video, Elliott lets her go, aft which she turned up successful nan soma astatine Coachella to strut down a Walk of Fame business and extremity up onstage successful a elaborate simulacrum of nan Hollywood Hills.

The first half of nan show featured a bunch of songs from nan singer’s past 2 LPs — she sang “Please Please Please” successful a mock-up of a recording-studio vocal booth, while “When Did You Get Hot?” sounded for illustration En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” — arsenic good arsenic an oldie successful “Because I Liked a Boy.”

Sabrina Carpenter performs.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Then came a very agelong quality by Susan Sarandon, who delivered a speech astir … nan trauma of puerility celebrity? Honestly, it was difficult to show — a spot of a miscalculation connected Carpenter’s part, arsenic though she’d assumed that everyone astatine Coachella wanted to perceive her deepest (if vaguest) thoughts astir nan symptom of increasing up successful nan Mouse House.

“She amended travel retired successful an astonishing outfit,” 1 female adjacent to maine said of Carpenter arsenic Sarandon continued to widen nan singer’s costume change.

Once Carpenter was backmost — wearing leggings and a bluish sweater — she did “Go Go Juice” and “Sugar Talking” successful a benignant of dance-studio mounting past interpolated a spot of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana (At nan Copa)” into “Feather” earlier Will Ferrell appeared arsenic an irritated shape tech moaning and groaning astir nan demands of Carpenter’s show. (Again: benignant of a fail.)

Yet she vanished beardown pinch speedy versions of “Juno,” “Espresso” and “Goodbye” into “Tears,” which sewage an elaborate h2o show that proved Carpenter tin supply nan correct magnitude of razzle-dazzle erstwhile she wants to.