Justin Bieber's Coachella Set is Proof that 'Bieber Fever' is a Forever Thing

...and no, we're not praising mediocrity.

Every April, the Coachella Valley desert is swarmed by influencers in cowboy boots and micro shorts. The festival, which has been around since 1999, is no longer a bohemian, hipster fantasy, but more so, a perimeter for the biggest names in music to perform to a sea of phone torches. The rise in social media surveillance over the decade has prompted an expectation for influencers to prioritise fit checks and brand endorsements over their own enjoyment of the festival. The music is not felt through the crowd, but through the screen.

Saturday saw an emotionally turbulent headline set from Justin Bieber. Expectations were high, and fans speculated over the potential setlist for months prior to his performance. Justin sang a variation of tracks, old and new, whilst he sat fiddling with a computer. His decision to play each song from Youtube, and have the video shown behind him on a screen, replacing an opportunity for elaborate set design, made the performance far more intimate than what we have seen from any other headliner. It almost looked as though he chose each song from the top of his head, giving the audience an insight into his mind. His set didn’t feel orchestrated by any means, and this led to online discussion surrounding the politics of mediocrity and the praise we give to male artists who do the bare minimum. Is it sexism or a valid celebration?

Sabrina Carpenter headlined on Friday, and her set was nothing short of extraordinary. Her entire presence in the music industry is based on imagery and production value, meaning her performances come with a presumption to exceed our expectations, and with that, she never fails. Sabrina is a show-woman. Despite the fact she’s been making music for over a decade, she’s only stood out amongst her peers since the release of ‘Feather’ in 2023. The Marilyn Monroe-esque Hollywood glamour appearance could not be replicated by anyone else. Sabrina now owns that brand and is the right person to do so. To form your image around a culture so deeply rooted within Americana and traditional icon status, means to have faith within yourself to out-perform your peers through elaborate theatrics. This performance was cinematic compared to Justin Bieber’s 90 minutes of sitting down vocals - so why is the focus on Justin?

When Justin Bieber released ‘SWAG’ in 2025, listeners were moved by the raw lyricism and lack of cringiness compared to his more ‘popstar’ orientated releases from recent years. The production credits to Dijon and Mk.Gee were a sign of maturity within his music, and non-fans (such as me) finally fell victim to ‘Bieber Fever’, and it was shameless. I’d had a guilty pleasure for a few of his songs, but never truly understood the hype surrounding his music. ‘SWAG’ was Justin Bieber as his true self, no longer this meticulously crafted artist who only publicly existed to please his fanbase. After being discovered through Youtube in 2008 and thrusted into the spotlight at 13 years old, Justin then set the blueprint for the modern teen idol. This ensured he was the youngest and first ‘internet artist’ - gaining much more success and critical acclaim than any TikTok artist we have today. Bieber Fever was very much real, and whilst this benefitted the teenage girls who had his posters plastered all over their bedroom walls, he was worked to a ridiculous standard for a young boy.

Justin was like Hannah Montana on steroids, with a career comparable to no one else in that field. After dedicating his whole life to young girls across the globe, performing to audiences of an indescribable number, this inevitably affected his health. Over the decade, he had publicly struggled with substance abuse as well as depression and anxiety - leading to a decline in public appearances and performances. His mainstream persona was unsettling to the public, as it was clear he had been severely overworked and no longer enjoyed abiding to the image that had been formed for him when he was 13. His albums weren’t receiving praise from critics, or fans, and people were concerned for his wellbeing. It was clear that his releases from the early 2020’s weren’t a reflection of his interests in music, and this is what made ‘SWAG’ so refreshing. The lack of promotion and public appearances surrounding its release added to its authenticity. JB could do what he’d always wanted to do. He could finally make music without having to be someone he didn’t want to be.

In February, Justin performed one of the songs from ‘SWAG’ at The Grammy’s. This was his first performance in four years, after cancelling his 2022 tour due to health issues. It received nothing but praise online, due to his confidence and healthy appearance. Fans were please by the stripped back nature of his performance, which was then followed by an intimate, pre-Coachella concert in LA, where he played ‘SWAG’ in full. This was a new era for him, performing in his element, without the expectation to put on an elaborate show.

His Coachella headlining set was of a similar nature, except he included hits from throughout his whole career, including ‘Baby’ and ‘Beauty and the Beat’. This was clearly a performance for himself, and the fans who truly cared for him. If he’d have played ‘SWAG’ in full, the influencers would have complained that he didn’t play the hits, whilst his actual fans would have praised him for doing an intimate, stripped back set, which he was clearly more comfortable with. He simply could not win if he made himself comfortable.

His set was immediately met with discourse, and the commentary surrounding his ‘laziness’ and entitlement to perform for $10 million. This is unsurprising considering that Sabrina’s set from the previous evening was objectively far more impressive than Justin’s, yet it didn’t receive nearly as much praise. I believe this is due to the public’s admiration towards Justin for playing such a huge show despite his obvious discomfort towards performing. Playing a headline slot at Coachella, aware that your performance is yet to be critiqued online by millions of people, is not an easy job. Whilst there wasn’t much physical effort to his performance, it was clearly a very big deal for him emotionally. The $10 million payout seems valid for that reason.

The continuous comparisons to Sabrina did not make much sense to me. I agree, there is a ridiculous double standard within the music industry for female artists to lead immaculate shows with costume and set design, as well as choreography, that is outer worldly. We expect a Beyonce from every rising female artist. Whereas most of the mainstream male artists of the past few decades haven’t given much focus to dancing or wearing fancy outfits on stage. Ed Sheeran stands with a guitar and people act like its gospel. So, you could ask, “isn’t that what Justin Bieber’s doing?” But I don’t think it’s fair to include him in that ideology. Whilst it's true that men can get away with giving poor performances whilst women get shamed for it, Justin spent over a decade wearing himself out just to please his fans and his management. He has struggled because of being overworked from the age of 13 - he has every reason to give a performance in which people might deem as ‘lazy’. But truthfully, his performance was far from it.

His vocals were incredible, he brought out guests, and he played a good mix of songs which everybody in the crowd knew. He also appeared to be enjoying himself, which is something people didn’t expect when they initially saw his name on the lineup. For Justin to headline Coachella, that’s a much bigger deal than people think it is. He isn’t 15 anymore. He’s not going to have backup dancers and outfit changes. What Sabrina Carpenter is doing now to ensure she remains on top of the charts; Justin did that ten years ago. I adore Sabrina Carpenter and I have followed her career since 2021, however she is in a very different lane to Justin Bieber. She needs to keep proving herself to her audience, unlike him. He’s already dominated the charts and been an influential figure in pop culture. People are either seeing him for the nostalgia, or for his newer releases. Realistically, his hits aren’t going to be met with crazy performances like they were ten years ago, not because he’s lazy, but because he’s grown out of it. He clearly prefers playing his newer, more authentic songs, and with that he provides an intimate performance where he makes use of the space around him and varies his vocals. There was nothing to complain about. He sang his newer songs beautifully and his hits made for a party atmosphere. So what if he wanted to sit down?

People also found an issue with the fact he sat watching memes on his computer (which were then displayed on the screen behind him) and whilst that does in fact sound lazy as hell, this was clearly just him messing around and finding ways to amuse the crowd. It wasn’t boredom, it was clearly part of the show. Whilst it was unconventional and didn’t make much sense, I don’t think it was meant to. After what he’s endured through these years of performing, he has every reason to engage with his audience through humour, rather than that eye candy allure he had when he was 16. We rarely get an insight into Justin’s private life and watching him scroll through memes of his younger self felt tongue in cheek in a way. Almost like he was stepping into the shoes of internet users, critiquing his every move, judging him for his on stage and personal life ‘fails’ which have been plastered all over the internet for our amusement.

Anyone who is saying that his set was the most incredible performance of all time must have a serious case of ‘Bieber Fever’, because it was not comparable to Sabrina in any way. But if there’s one thing that will win people over, it’s nostalgia. There was clearly a sense of pride in the crowd from those who had grown up with him, watching him perform the songs he’d once written in a difficult time in his life. Tana Mongeau had posted a video to herself crying whilst he sang ‘Baby’ - which cut deep considering both had struggled with similar issues living in Hollywood and fighting addiction. This wasn’t a performance to be critiqued for its physical aspects. The world has been infatuated by his performance for various reasons, and the obvious criticisms are irrelevant to me. For the first time in years he has given a performance which he clearly enjoyed and managed to create an intimate setting where he played tracks from his and our adolescence, which he helped shape. He was truly connected to the audience by celebrating his younger self, which we all admire, and removing that element of shame towards a dark period in his life. This was not a Frank Ocean Coachella situation, if anything, this might go down in history as one of the most special headline performances in Coachella’s history.