Excitement and uncertainty surrounded Justin Bieber’s headlining performance on the second day of Coachella 2026 Saturday. The set marked his major comeback, despite his recent warm-up shows at the Troubadour and The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, and begged the question — was Bieber ready to perform for a huge crowd again?
The answer, undoubtedly, was yes.
When Bieber opened with “All I Can Take,” he walked down the large oval-shaped structure at center stage — the only major set piece — donning a simple red hoodie and sunglasses. A disc of lights overhead filled the frame above him.
The song quickly transitioned to “Speed Demon” as the stage washed red and he danced back and forth, his image multiplied across the video screen with a tracer effect.
That beginning made everyone wonder — are we going to get any of the high-energy hits, or just the stripped-down Grammys version of Bieber?
The set leaned heavy on ‘Swag’
Bieber then paused to ask “Coachella, what’s good?” before moving to his laptop, which fed the video screen and a simultaneous livestream for those watching at home. He invited fans to drop requests in the chat, then performed “Go Baby” and “Butterflies.” The crowd interaction was all building, and he acknowledged fans calling for “Walking Away.”
The red oversized hoodie stayed on, the sunglasses eventually came off, and the Coachella crowd got the mature Bieber on his own terms — present, engaged and working the audience.
A medley of “All The Way,” “405,” “Too Long,” “Petting Zoo,” and “I Do” followed — vocally brilliant, blending his rapping and soulful singing — but 30 minutes in, the production was starting to feel flat, and the audience could only take so many songs from “Swag” before getting antsy.
Then, Bieber surprised the crowd. “You all need some energy right now,” he said, and brought out The Kid LAROI to sing their hit “Stay.”
Then, the energy shifted again when an acoustic portion of the set took a more mellow, spiritual turn through “Things You Do,” “Glory Voice Memo,” “Zumba House,” and “Dotted Line.”
‘How far back do you go?’
The next part of the set was the most squeal-inducing. Suddenly, the hood was thrown off, and it felt like we were chilling at Bieber’s house with him watching videos on YouTube like so many 30-somethings of his generation used to do with their friends.
With his trusty laptop in front of him, Bieber selected old track after old track and started playing his old music videos on the screen behind him. He sang along to sections of “Baby,” “Favorite Girl,” “That Should Be Me,” “Beauty and a Beat,” and more, and the fans went wild.
Before each song, he’d repeat one question: “How far back do you go?” seemingly testing the crowd to see how deep their knowledge of his discography was.
Many of these were songs he hadn’t performed in over a decade. The hoodie was off, and Bieber appeared to be genuinely having fun. Whatever troubles had followed him in recent years seemed forgotten — he was back on stage doing what he does best.
“Wi-Fi man, come on!” he said at one point, apparently unaware that he had already broken the internet, giving fans exactly what they had been desperately hoping for — and waiting a long time to get.
“These paparazzi,” he said shaking his head at one point. “They just won’t leave me alone” before playing the viral, meme-making “you’re not clocking it” pap interaction video.
When the world’s most chill retrospective was over, the laptop was closed, the music videos dissapeared from the screen and the regular set resumed with “Yukon,” then followed with special guests Dijon on “Devotion,” Tems on “I Think You’re Special,” and Wizkid and Tems on “Essence” (Wizkid’s song).
So. What did I think overall? Some parts of the show could have been better — I wish, for example, that he’d fully sang the song snippets that he jammed out to (a lot of that section was just him dancing along to the recording without putting the mic to his lips) in front of his laptop, but I enjoyed the live songs that he sang in full, and I thought his voice sounded great — very similar to his original recordings of his recent songs.
Many of the songs on “Swag” reflect his vulnerability and the fact that he’s not a child star anymore. The stage production was quite minimal for a headlining performance, but considering his everyday attire in recent years matched what he wore on stage, that appeared to be by design.
What really matters is that “Bieberchella” was a momentous occasion for Biebs and his fans, and you could tell that our favorite Coachella head was soaking in his moment. He expressed his excitement several times during the performance, stating “I’ve been dreaming of this night for a long time.”
(This story was updated to add photos and links.)
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Justin Bieber gives most chill retrospective ever at Coachella 2026
Reporting by Brian Blueskye, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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