Justin Bieber played his biggest concert in years when he performed an intimate concert at Coachella on Saturday night that cost him a fortune. loot Bieber mined through old YouTube clips on his laptop to take the era and fans back to the early days.
Bieber’s show was scaled back, especially compared to Sabrina Carpenter’s lavish headlining show the day before. The pop star was alone for much of the set, as he sang and moved around a structure resembling a half pipe, which took up a large portion of the stage. There were no backup dancers, no complicated stage props, and no costume or stage design changes. The only time anyone else came on stage was when a few guitarists came for a few tracks and were joined by some special guests (Thames, Wizkid, Dijon and The Kid Laroi). It appeared that Bieber wanted to keep the focus solely on him and his voice.
“Wow wow wow, getting up close and personal with you guys, it’s special,” a hooded Bieber told the Coachella crowd on Saturday. “This is a night I’ve dreamed about for a long time, so it’s amazing to be here.”
Bieber’s return follows a period of massive change for one of the world’s biggest pop acts over the past several years. He canceled tour dates for health reasons, sold his publishing catalog, became a father, and separated from longtime manager Scooter Braun. He came back last year with his first album in four years loot and its deluxe Swag II, Earning a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.
Starting around 11:30 p.m., Bieber spent the first half of his set centered around himself. loot The era began with “All I Can Take” before moving into “Speed Demon,” “First Place,” and “Go Baby.” he stuck loot The songs flowed until he brought in his first surprise guest of the evening, The Kid Laroi, to perform his 2021 smash hit “Stay.”
By the middle of his set, the show was like a karaoke party, with Bieber pulling up YouTube links to his childhood hits, taking his own trip down memory lane and testing the crowd to see how far they could go.
“Tonight is very special, but I think we have to take you guys on a little trip,” Bieber said as he fiddled with a laptop connected to the large screen behind him. He began searching on YouTube which sent the crowd into a brief frenzy as they realized he was typing “baby”.
“Do you guys remember this song?” he asked.
From there, they began singing quick snippets along with recordings of their earliest classics, including “Beauty and a Beat,” “Never Say Never,” and “Confident.” Seeing the baby-faced Bieber on screen at Coachella was a reminder of how long he’s been famous, and while the YouTube karaoke felt like less effort than a more involved production, it made for a fascinating sight to see a fully grown Bieber singing these songs as his childhood played out in the background.
Yet, as it progressed, it became more muddled rather than deeper, as tracks like “Sorry” might have been better performed in a more official capacity rather than as an improvised music video singalong.
“Wi-Fi, come on man,” the crowd laughed as Bieber pulled up the “Sorry” video, causing the “Sorry” video to buffer.
Eventually the talk turned to millennium-era memes, as Bieber pulled up the “Deez Nuts” and “Double Rainbow” YouTube videos, with Bieber saying he was “being pulled into the deep dark web, we got to keep the show on.” He then dropped the laptop and started singing “Yukon”.
Dijon, who attended the festival yesterday, followed with “Devotion”, and Thames came out to duet with Bieber on “I Think You’re Special”. Wizkid then joined them to perform a cover of their song “Essence”.
Bieber ended the set with “Daisies”, with guitarist MKG, who co-produced the song, coming in for the finale. Fireworks went off behind Bieber and he told the crowd he loved them and then quickly ran off the stage. They’ve got another headlining set next Saturday.
