Justin Bieber closed out Coachella's Saturday night at the Empire Polo Club in Indio with a set that doubled as a nostalgia trip and a live experiment. Midway through his headlining slot, he slid behind a laptop, pulled up old music videos, and started singing along while the crowd in the field and the livestream chat at home tried to decide whether this was genius, trolling, or both. New songs from his recent Swag albums were stitched into quick medleys of early hits and surprise collaborations, creating a show that landed as tender for some and head-scratching for others.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the 32-year-old spent roughly half an hour clicking around YouTube onstage, "YouTube Premium, that is," the paper dryly noted, often singing along an octave below the original recordings. The outlet's live coverage and setlist indicate he moved through about 34 songs in just under 90 minutes, from Swag-era cuts like "All I Can Take" and "Speed Demon" to throwback moments such as "Baby" and "Never Say Never." "This is a night I dreamed about for a long time," Bieber told the crowd, before ushering out a rotation of collaborators later in the night, per the Los Angeles Times.
Guests, covers and the laptop gamble
Bieber leaned on both his recent material and the early viral moments that first launched him, bringing Carter Lang and Dylan Wiggins onstage for Swag tracks, then calling up Dijon, Tems and Wizkid for more soulful stretches of the set. Instead of ending with a fireworks-ready banger, he closed the night by introducing Mk.gee for a hushed performance of "Daisies," a low-key finale that ran against the usual arena-size expectations for a Coachella headliner.
The unconventional blend of prerecorded backing tracks, live vocals and onstage YouTube browsing played as intimate for many watching the livestream and flat-out confusing for some fans in the field. As Pitchfork pointed out, the whole experiment unfolded in front of a global audience tuned in online.
Fan split and what comes next
Reaction started rolling in before Bieber even left the stage, and it was sharply divided. Some viewers labeled the laptop-heavy segment "lazy," while others framed it as a rare moment of vulnerability from a star who has stepped back in recent years for health and recovery. Social aggregators picked up both sides of the argument, a reminder that big festival sets now live as much in screenshots, stitched clips and livestream chats as they do on the polo field.
Bieber is slated to headline Coachella's second weekend on April 18, giving him a chance to tweak the show for a fresh crowd and another round of viewers, according to Newsweek.
