Longtime fans and Beliebers freaked out when Justin Bieber was announced as one of the headliners for Coachella 2026 and after his Saturday night set, it’s safe to say he delivered. In an extremely unconventional performance, the pop star sat down with only his laptop and a livestream, singing along to old music videos, stopping to play memes of himself, and performing both old and new hits.
With some critics calling it “lazy” and fans calling it their favorite Coachella set of the weekend, it’s clear that everyone is talking about it.
Unlike the flashy and vibrant sets of other headliners such as Sabrina Carpenter’s Hollywood themed set boldly named “SabrinaWood” complete with full set changes and full on choreography dancers and Karol G’s gorgeous performance, complete with a female mariachi band and vibrantly clad dancers, Justin Bieber’s set seemed to be almost nothing in comparison. Just a blank stage, nondescript outfit, and a laptop.
So why can’t everyone stop talking about Bieberchella?
The 90 minute headlining set started off with a few of his newer hits off of his latest albums Swag and Swag II, before transitioning into the youtube karaoke segment that went viral.
Sitting down with a laptop and a livestream, he went down a YouTube rabbit hole, complete with a meme break and wifi issues, showing old music videos and singing along to iconic songs from his past such as “Baby,” “Beauty and a Beat,” “Confident,” “Never Say Never,” and “That Should Be Me” with thousands of festival goers screaming the lyrics back at him.
The headlining set ended off with more recent Justin Bieber hits such as Yukon and Daisies, bringing up several guest stars like the Kid Laroi and Mk.gee and finally ending with a firework show, signaling the end of a great show.
However, this viral performance was more than just an entertaining and unique concept, but something more.
Fans can’t stop talking about how full circle the performance appeared to be. Showing videos from the beginning of his career and being able to look back at his younger self in front of a giant crowd while headlining Coachella had to be an incredible experience and extremely cathartic. Also, as someone famously discovered on YouTube as a child, the concept of showing old YouTube videos for longtime fans to reminisce on was perfect.
There was a specific moment where he sang a duet with his thirteen year old self to Chris Brown’s “ With You” smiling and harmonizing with himself which was incredibly touching for the audience to see.
After taking time off from touring and major performances due to both physical and mental health issues, this show was a perfect comeback and extra special for fans to see him happy while performing after everything he had gone through.
Even with critics calling it “lazy” compared to other sets, Bieber reached his biggest streaming day of the year after Coachella. My friends and I have all been relistening to our favorite Justin Bieber songs from our childhood following the hype from his performance and it’s safe to say that Bieber Fever is back and stronger than ever.