Justin Bieber’s Coachella Set: Is There a Reason for His “Lazy” Performance?

When Coachella comes around, you just know that it will be the only topic spoken about for weeks to come. And last weekend’s Coachella (April 10-12) did not disappoint. The looks, the food, the heat, and, most importantly, the performances, were all everyone wanted to talk about. 

The headlines of this Coachella’s night one (Friday) and night two (Saturday) were Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber, respectively. Sabrina’s performance was a full-on experience: multiple sets, choreographed dances, multiple outfits…On the other hand, Justin Bieber’s performance consisted of him mainly sitting down and playing his old music videos in the background by mirroring his computer to his YouTube page, singing with his younger self. With two starkly contrasting performances back to back, criticism regarding Justin’s lack of effort began to appear, with many claiming that he did not even try to dance that much, and that a woman could never get away with such a bland  performance. On one hand, they do have a point, Justin’s Coachella set truly was “low-key” and female artists usually cannot get away with not changing their outfits at least once during their show. However, seeing this from another perspective, why can't a singer perform the way they want to?

Beliebers (Justin Bieber’s fans) were quick to jump to his defense. Their reasoning took root in 2022. That year, Justin was beginning his Justice World Tour, but postponed multiple dates and ultimately cancelled all his 2023 performances in Europe, Australia, and the U.S.A. This was due to a  diagnosis of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, which caused facial paralysis, and therefore, he could not perform. Fortunately, all the tickets sold for the Tour were refunded to the fans. Unfortunately, without the tour, Justin Bieber was (allegedly) on the brink of financial collapse. Without the tour, he owed 31.5 million dollars to Scooter Braun, his former manager, as his company was the one that covered the costs of the canceled tour. For context, his manager had a huge fallout because of that money, but that is not this article's main focus. Although it is interesting, I have not heard a single good thing about this Scooter person. 

With this huge debt and without a tour to recover that money, Justin took a drastic measure: at the end of 2022, he sold all of his music catalog to Hipgnosis Song Capital. And fans theorized that Justin played YouTube videos with his younger self as a legal loophole, since he did not have the masters to his songs and could not sing them entirely.

While it does seem like an understandable reason, it is not even a real one, only a fan-based theory that turned out to be false. Legal experts throughout the world have clarified that, legally, Bieber would have been completely fine singing his old songs, even if he did not own them. For example, look at Taylor Swift: during her Eras Tour, she played her old songs that she did not have the masters to yet (she bought back her song rights in May of 2025) and yet, she was completely fine. 

So why did he do it? The most probable reason, though it is not confirmed, is to appeal to the audience's sense of nostalgia. Playing his older hits on YouTube gives him both authenticity and a connection to the fans, as they can see the artist they look up to as a human being which grew and is now healed. By playing his old YouTube videos, Bieber is also able to make a full-circle moment, as he is  singing with his past self.

Nevertheless, if it was for legal or stylistic reasons, shouldn’t an artist be able to express themselves the way they want to? It does not matter if it is a male or female artist, they should be able to perform however they wish to, without the expectations of fans and critics that pressure them. After all, these shows are their art, and it would not be really theirs if the entire world tried to change something about it.