Two hours before Justin Bieber began his 2026 Coachella set last night, I found myself inching closer and closer toward the main stage, where the Canadian pop star and late-millennial icon was set to perform at 11:25 p.m. Some die-hard Beliebers—Justin’s fiercest fans—were already camped out near the front barricades. I wanted a decent spot, of some sort, too. “Do you think he will perform ‘Baby?’” a 20-something asked me while we waited in the thick of the crowd. At this point, my knees were already aching. More questions came: “Who do you think he will bring out onstage?” “Where will Hailey be?”

After what felt like an eternity of waiting (with not a sip of water, because no bathroom breaks allowed!), he arrived nearly on time and our questions were answered—but Justin Bieber had one of his own to ask the crowd too. Four years on from his last major live show, he repeated it several times through the set: “How far back do you go?”

Bieber began totally alone on the stage with one of his new tracks, “All I Can Take.” In true J.B. fashion, he emerged wearing a large, oversized pink hoodie from his own brand, Skylrk, and baggy shorts by Lu’u Dan. Then came other tracks from his Swag and Swag II albums: He sang “Speed Demon,” “Go Baby,” and “Everything Hallelujah.” During the latter, the camera panned to his wife, Hailey Bieber, in the crowd as she watched lovingly and sang along. “Hailey, babe, hallelujah…baby Jack, hallelujah,” he sang. The crowd went wild, and my own screams echoed in my ears.

When Bieber was first announced as a 2026 Coachella headliner, there was instant excitement but also some trepidation. His Coachella set, after all, would be his biggest live performance in years, after he canceled the Justice world tour in 2022 following health issues. In the years since, he’s retreated from the public eye to focus on fatherhood. Then he dropped Swag. Then he started playing some intimate shows. But could he handle such a high-pressure show?

His set last night hopscotched his new era and expansive back catalog, all served with that signature, buttery-smooth Bieber voice. The stage visuals were trippy and colorful—like you were high, only you didn’t need to be high (though some people definitely were!) because your teen pop heartthrob was onstage right in front of you. “He’s sooo sexy,” another person purred to her friend behind me. I had to agree.

Then came the answer to another question we had been pondering: How would he handle his old-school megahits? An epic nostalgia play took place in a novel way. Sitting down with his laptop onstage, Bieber began scrolling through his old hits on YouTube. (Wi-Fi was a bit of an issue at times, but it kind of added to the vibe.) He effectively performed karaoke, cycling through his biggest tween-era hits, like “Sorry,” “Never Say Never,” and, of course, “Baby.” (Seeing him perform “Baby” unlocked something feral inside of me: I was no longer 33 but 16 again.) Some he performed enthusiastically, like “What Do You Mean,” which had the crowd shrieking and jumping up and down (even the very few unassuming straight men among the girls and gays). Others he offered only small snippets, like “Sorry,” which he simply let the crowd sing for him. It gave the fans what they wanted, in a way that felt cheeky and unserious, which was simply perfect. This was how all of us original Beliebers first experienced him, surfing YouTube videos in barely 360p; the concept just worked.

Between the throwback hits, Bieber found himself going down an internet rabbit hole, watching old meme videos like “double rainbow” or the more recent video of him telling off a paparazzi, saying, “It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business.”

The star added that now iconic line to his Coachella merch, plastering it on neon green hoodies and tees. Other offerings included a tee that read “Future Mrs. Bieber,” a tank top with a shirtless image of himself giving the middle finger, and pink gym shorts that simply read “Swag.” I would know: I spent exactly $212 of my hard-earned cash on such pieces prior to the set.

Nearing the end of the show, Bieber shed his pink hoodie and shades to rock a simple black cutoff tee and returned to perform more stripped-down Swag tracks like “Yukon” and “Daisies.” More special guests emerged, including Tems, Wizkid, Dijon, the Kid Laroi, and Mk.gee. Bieber was most energetic when performing his newer material with collaborators.

One of the most touching moments in the set happened when he pulled up his cover of Chris Brown’s “With You.” At 13, it was the beginning of everything. With his young self up on the screen, Bieber grinned and sang along, harmonizing: a new dad, triumphing over his health issues, the paparazzi frenzies, and media doubts. Able to look back at the past while content with his present in front of Coachella’s tens of thousands.

There was a dramatic finale of fireworks, and Bieber exited the stage with a simple, “Love you all.” We love you right back: Let’s do a world tour in 2027, yeah, so we can keep these vibes going? I could do without the hours standing in the middle of a desert, with dust clogging up my lungs. We OG Beliebers are getting on: We need that arena tour and a comfy seat.