Justin Bieber's Coachella comeback chaos
by SAMEER SURI, US SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER · Mail OnlineJustin Bieber's hotly-anticipated comeback at Coachella fell flat with many of his fans as he performed his set in a hoodie and streamed songs from his laptop.
Festival goers were so excited to see the headliner perform that the whole event had been dubbed 'Bieberchella' among fans, who couldn't wait to see his stage return.
However, rather than returning with a bang, the star left some of his fans disappointed as they branded the performance 'lazy', with debate centered on his unconventional staging and focus on new music.
In stark contrast, the Day 1 headliner - Sabrina Carpenter - had served up a polished performance with several outfit changes and impressive staging.
Ahead of the event, many had shared their desperation to hear Bieber play some of his old hits, but these were only heard in snippets as he sang along to YouTube clips.
The 32-year-old pop act has appeared as a surprise guest artist four times at the festival in support of Ariana Grande, Chance the Rapper, Daniel Caesar and Tems.
But on a late-night set on Day 2 of this year's festival, he made his debut at the top of the bill, delivering a set for which he was reportedly paid $10million.
His set was scheduled for an already late 11:25pm start time, and rumors circulated in the run-up to his set that the high desert winds might delay him even further.
Although he arrived on time to a burst of cheers and applause, he emerged dressed down in shorts, a hoodie and shades and proceeded to launch into a string of his lesser-known recent numbers, mostly neglecting his older hits.
Not everyone was let down, as some admitted they thought the show was 'raw and stripped back', especially the segment where Justin sat on a stool with his laptop next to him, pulling up old videos and checking the livestream to see what people wanted.
He then singalong to whatever song he picked with the video displayed behind, or sometimes just jammed out without holding the microphone to his mouth.
This included a medley of blink-and-miss it snippets of his beloved songs like Baby, Favorite Girl, Beauty and a Beat, Never Say Never and Confident.
He also played viral clips such as his now infamous 'is it not clocking to you' moment as well as other internet classics such as 'deez nuts' and the 'double rainbow' clip.
Bieber wasn't afraid to poke fun at himself, as this section also included videos of him walking into a glass door and falling off stage.
However he stuck mostly to a set that had fans reacting online with mingled disappointment and derision, posting remarks like: 'Justin Bieber headlined Coachella just to not play any of his classics lmao,' and: 'There's just no way Coachella paid Justin Bieber 8 mil to dress up like Jesse Pinkman.'
'I cannot imagine paying thousands of dollars to watch Justin Bieber sound a mess and walk around in a hoodie and glasses. This is insulting to his fans,' fumed one.
Others wrote: 'I hate the outfit sucks band and the low rent hip hop,' and: 'Justin Bieber got paid 10 million just to walk around this damn stage??'
'That's what happens when you sell your catalog and you're only left with your last album that nobody knows,' theorized another viewer.
Another saw a 'night and day difference' between his low-key set and the high-energy extravaganza offered up by Sabrina Carpenter the previous night.
'Sorry biebs but it snot giving,' one fan said gently, while another reacted more scathingly: 'justin rlly up there headlining coachella w/ just a mic & his macbook??'
Some even branded his show 'the worst in the festival's history', while others questioned why he'd been paid such an eye-watering amount, and called for a production on par with previous headliners.
Bieber's concert had been highly-anticipated after he was forced to abandon his 2022 due to health concerns after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
They wrote: 'Justin Bieber did the impossible - he managed to dethrone Katseye with the worst Coachella performance of all time;
'Why is Justin Bieber asking the stream to pick a song for him is there no setlist, this is so messy and sloppy where are the backup dancers?? Where's the production wtf is this mess who let him headline;
'30 minutes into Justin's Coachella set and I can't name one song he's performed;
'Look Justin Bieber can sing, but baby this is Coachella put on a performance;
'@coachella @justinbieber stop playing ur flop swag albums and start playing ur old s**t this is literally what the fans DON'T wanna see... gonna blame Hailey because there's no one else to blame;
'Justin Bieber got paid 10 mil for this boring ass performance. Everyone is bored;
'45 minutes in and all Justin Bieber has done is taken off his hood;
'Justin Bieber, is your ''show'' just putting on music from a laptop? This isn't a concert anymore, it's a lack of respect for the audience. Stop normalising it; women are demanded to deliver production, choreography etc... but men get applause for the bare minimum;
'Justin Bieber is performing another song I don't know;
'I've never seen a bored crowd with a headliner before oh Justin what is this boring setlist and performance ik people are disappointed.'
However, some defended the star, writing: 'I feel like Justin Bieber is healing his inner child with this Coachella performance right now and it's genuinely beautiful to see.
'Seeing him look at his younger self with nothing but love?? Like I've never seen him this relaxed and happy performing'.
'This Justin Bieber set is goated wow'.
'JUSTIN BIEBER REALLY PLAYED BEAUTY AND A BEAT IRL @ COACHELLA. (I MIGHT'VE CRIED).'
'Justin Bieber is paying himself a tremendous tribute at #Coachella'.
Bieber was supported at the show by his wife Hailey, who had been hosting an event for her brand Rhode earlier in the day in collaboration with Coachella.
Fans also went wild as they spotted Kylie Jenner and boyfriend Timothée Chalamet dancing in the crowd together.
Kylie and Timothée were spotted singing along to Never Say Never alongside Hailey, Kendall Jenner and other pals.
The couple, who have been together since earlier 2023, looked happier than ever as they cosied up in the crowd.
It seems Kylie and Timothée attempted to keep a low-profile as he rocked a camouflage baseball cap and a purple bandanna over his face, protecting himself from the dust storms.
The stars appearance in the crowd sent fans wild with many resharing the clip of Kylie and Timothée while another added: 'Not Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner vibing like regular fans'.
He began the set with his song 2025 song All I Can Take, which the Canadian pop act performed amid psychedelically flickering blue and white lights.
He then served up a rendition of his defiant 2025 number Speed Demon, which took a derisive attitude to the public speculation about his well-being.
In an insistence that his musical output should speak for itself, he crooned: 'They try to say I’m out of my mind, but now they singing every line.'
During an interlude, he vaunted the 'beautiful faces in the audience tonight,' and sweetly asked those watching the livestream: 'How you guys doing at home?'
He then offered fans the opportunity to 'help me with the songs tonight' by picking their 'favorites' and posting them in the stream's rolling comments.
The eerie set was filled with smoke, with a sloping pearl grey topography that made him look as though he were walking across another planet.
Bieber delivered renditions of his songs First Place and Go Baby, both of which are loving tributes to his wife Hailey Bieber, who has been seen dashing about Coachella with her gal pal Kendall Jenner in the run-up to his show.
Among the other new songs he performed were Walking Away, rumored to be addressing the divorce rumors between him and Hailey, his song Petting Zoo, which some fans interpreted as being about their couple's quarrels, and another number of his called I Do, an apparent affirmation of their commitment.
He gave a crowd-pleasing performance of Stay - his 2021 smash single with The Kid LaROI - which was apparently a viewer request from the comments.
Bieber transitioned from there to an acoustic run of lesser-known material such as his 2020 love song Come Around Me about intimacy with Hailey
He then moved into a couple of more songs from last year, his spiritual GLORY VOICE MEMO and his soulful ballad Zuma House.
After the acoustic segment, he threw a bone of fan service to the crowd by performing a medley of his old hits.
Standing at his laptop, he threw on some videos of his beloved songs and sang along to them, with selections including Baby, Favorite Girl, Beauty and a Beat, Never Say Never, Confident, All That Matters.
He then went back the old YouTube singing videos he had recorded as a child before he was famous, leading to his discovery by Usher and Scooter Braun.
One went back '19 years,' he noted, and showed Bieber as a child covering the 2006 song Ne-Yo - as the adult Bieber stood onstage at Coachella singing along.
Bieber then offered the crowd another of his classics, the 2015 song Sorry, and then his successful collaboration with Skrillex, Where Are U Now.
He made a show of falling down a rabbit hole of his old embarrassing YouTube videos, such as old footage of him walking into a glass door, falling through a stage and yelling at a paparazzo he accused of trying to 'provoke' him.
Then he was back to his newer, comparatively obscure material, crooning Yukon - a tip of the hat to the GMC Yukon, the car Hailey drove when they were dating.
He then sang another paean to his wife called Devotion, a collaboration with Dijon, whom he brought onstage for a duet that ended in a heartwarming embrace.
Bieber played a private, invite-only concert around a week before his Coachella set to warm up for the festival at the The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles.
It marked his first full-length live set in nearly four years, after performing brief shows at the Grammys and a Super Bowl event earlier in 2026.
During his music hiatus following the cancellation of his 2022 world tour, Bieber popped up at several low-key events as a surprise guest but this marked the beginning of his big comeback.
He is set to headline again at Coachella weekend two.
JUSTIN BIEBER'S FULL SET LIST
1. All I Can Take
2. Speed Demon
3. First Place
4. Go Baby
5. Butterflies
6. Walking Away
7. All The Way / 405 / Too Long / Petting Zoo / I Do
8. Stay (with The Kid LAROI as special guest)
9. Things You Do
10. Glory Voice Memo
11. Zuma House
12. Dotted Line
13. Everything Hallelujah
14. Baby
15. Favorite Girl
16. That Should Be Me
17. Beauty and a Beat
18. Never Say Never
19. Confident
20. All That Matters
21. With You (Chris Brown cover)
22. So Sick (Ne-Yo cover)
23. Sorry
24. Where Are U Now
25. I'm The One
26. Yukon
27. Devotion (with Dijon as special guest)
28. I Think You're Special (with Tems as special guest)
29. Essence (Wizkid cover with Wizkid and Tems as special guests)
30. Daisies (with Mk.gee as special guest)
Shortly before Bieber's show, Jennifer Lopez made her surprise Coachella debut a after a glittering music career spanning almost three decades.
The 56-year-old sent an ecstatic shockwave through the audience when she materialized onstage as the guest artist during David Guetta's set.
Lopez was on hand to deliver a her first live rendition of her and Guetta's new song Save Me Tonight, which they released just last month.
The crowd exploded as Guetta announced he had 'invited a friend,' prompting Lopez to hit the stage in a skintight The Blonds bodysuit that showcased her killer physique and featured a tantalizingly plunging neckline.
Her sparkling silver number was accented with an aquamarine Julien McDonald feather jacket and a pair of Dolce X Ray Ban sunglasses, in the latest flourish of her unerring instinct for high-octane showbiz chic.
Right at the beginning of the performance, she aimed a mischievous grin at the crowd and threw her shades down to be caught by a lucky fan.
She then sent the audience spiraling into squeals of delight as she tore her jacket off and swung it back and forth before casting it aside.
'Make some noise for JLo!' Guetta roared as Lopez traipsed over to the DJ booth and enfolded him in a fond embrace, the pair of them beaming.
Kehlani also made a surprise appearance during Day 2, thrilling the massive audience on the fairground by striding on during Giveon's show.
She treated the audience to a rendition of her new song Folded, which was a solo number on the record but which she and Giveon rearranged into a duet.
Giveon, 31, then teased a potential new record collaboration with Kehlani, saying: 'You guys may be hearing something from her and I very soon.'
Sombr was also among the cavalcade of boldfaced names to hit the stage at Day 2 of Coachella, performing a medley of his hits.
Among the 20-year-old rocker's setlist were Back to Friends, We Never Dated, Come Closer and I Wish I Knew How to Quit You, plus his live debut of his song Potential.
The New York native, whose real name is Shane Boose, then paid a tip of the hat to his genre's legacy by bringing on Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.
Together, in a touching passing of the torch, Corgan and Sombr performed the Smashing Pumpkins song 1979, originally released in 1995.