Justin Bieber Coachella Reviews: Critics Say Week 2 Was A 'Level Up'

After dividing opinion with his set at Coachella earlier this month, Justin Bieber’s second consecutive week headlining at the US festival has been much better received.

Just over a week ago, the Canadian star sparked a heated debate on social media after a stripped-back performance on the Coachella stage on Saturday 11 April, which included him seated at a laptop scrolling through his old hits on YouTube and singing along for one portion.

It is worth pointing out, though, that while there were plenty of headlines about the supposed controversy over Justin’s Coachella show, many critics were quick to praise the show immediately after it ended, with several claiming that his detractors had “missed” the “point” of what Justin had set out to do.

Over the weekend, the Beauty And A Beat singer returned to Coachella for the second week of the festival, where the reaction to his set was much more unanimous.

USA Today claimed that Justin was much “more at ease” during his second performance, claiming that the Grammy winner “managed to outdo himself by settling onto the stage with confidence, having fun with fans and bringing out an onslaught of guests”.

Variety’s review agreed that Justin had “brought out the big guns” for week two, while Consequence Of Sound wrote that the singer “levelled up”.

Over on Reddit, a popular discussion also suggested the set may have “the biggest [week one to week two] improvement” in Coachella history.

Justin’s second set was packed with even more surprise guests than his first, perhaps most notably SZA, who joined her former collaborator to perform their song Snooze.

Meanwhile, Billie Eilish also made an unscheduled on-stage appearance as Justin sang his early hit One Less Lonely Girl, which he often used to dedicate to a different fan each night on tour.

Billie – who has made no secret of her Belieber status – wrote on Instagram that she could “not stop crying” after the viral moment.

A night earlier, Sabrina Carpenter also headlined Coachella for the second time, where she was joined on stage by Madonna, unveiling a new duet with the Queen of Pop as well as performing some of her signature hits.