Coachella 2026 delivered a front-and-center moment for Justin Bieber as he headlined the festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. Hours before his main-stage set, Geese took the Gobi Stage by storm, launching into a cover of Bieber’s 2010 hit Baby and weaving their own 3D Country sound into the performance. The band even teased their 2024-studio version of the track, fueling chatter about how the festival can blend nostalgic pop with fresh, experimental energy.
When Bieber finally took the stage, the crowd’s energy didn’t just ride the wave of new material; it flung back to Bieber’s early era as he revisited Baby during the set. The moment came as a video of the track played on screen—his own version captured from earlier days—while he sang along, a nod to fans who have watched his career evolve over more than a decade. Earlier in the show, a sit-in from the Kid Laroi on Stay had kept the audience buzzing, and Bieber responded by bringing in a couple of guitarists to share the stage and run through deep-cut acoustic numbers. The pacing hinted at a potential misfire, with some fans briefly exiting as the set shifted gears.
Still, the evening pivoted back toward a nostalgic peak as Bieber leaned into the past, mixing hits with intimate, lo-fi moments that felt like a time capsule from the early years of his rise. Geese’s pre-headline cover and Bieber’s own retrospective moments underscored Coachella’s signature blend of past and present, keeping the festival’s spotlight firmly on both the evolving sounds of today and the enduring pull of Bieber’s early catalog.
