Sabrina Carpenter had a premonition the last time she played Coachella in 2024, singing to a buzzing crowd during her set at the time that she would “see you back here when I headline.”
It was a less distant reality than even she may have anticipated. Almost exactly two years later, Carpenter served as the first night’s headliner for Coachella 2026 on Friday, delivering an intricate, vintage Hollywood-style set — complete with acting cameos from the likes of Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon and Will Ferrell — that only further reflected her status as one of pop’s biggest performers.
“If I said that and I didn’t headline, it’d be pretty fucking awkward,” Carpenter joked at one point during the night, referencing that 2024 callout.
Starting at just past 9 p.m. Friday night, Carpenter opened her set with a long video intro featuring Elliott playing a menacing cop who pulled her over in a sort of classic film noir scenario. After emerging from her car in real life just off the stage, she took to a catwalk that looked like her very own walk of fame, and she kicked off the show with her latest Man’s Best Friend single “House Tour.” From there, she went through “Taste,” “Busy Woman,” and “Manchild,” where in the latter, she was surrounded by background dancers dressed as poodles and Dalmatians.
In an interview with Marc Jacobs in Perfect magazine published earlier this week, Carpenter had teased that Coachella would mark “the most ambitious show I’ve ever done.” That was on full display Friday from the production and set design, which had Carpenter performing in front of a makeshift Hollywood Hills, complete with her own “Sabrinawood” sign that emerged as she started “When Did You Get Hot.”
“Welcome to Sabrinawood,” Carpenter told the crowd early in the night. “I can’t believe I’m headlining Coachella. I mean, I can a little bit, but it’s nicer to say that, right?”
Throughout the night, the set also transported Carpenter to a recording studio, a dive bar, and after a very extended monologue from Sarandon, the whole stage changed to a gigantic dance studio for her next act. By the end of the night, she was at a Broadway-esque cityscape. Her dancers’ outfits were similarly intricate, from dogs to burlesque dancers to members of the circus.
Hollywood was the through line for the whole night, as beyond those celebrity cameos, Carpenter seemed to reference films including Chicago and Dirty Dancing among others as well.
Carpenter kept mainly to her Man’s Best Friend and Short n’ Sweet songs for the night, and her set included the live debut of Man’s Best Friend track “We Almost Broke Up Last Night.”
Carpenter finished the last night strong, going from “Juno” to “Espresso” to “Goodbye.” She wrapped with “Tears,” sitting on a throne that ascended from a car as a water fountain had gone off below her. It’s the sort of blush-inducing cheekiness we’ve come to expect from her.
She officially wrapped by driving off in style an old school car, with weekend two still ahead of her.
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