Coachella

A week ago today, the second weekend of Coachella — 2026 edition — concluded with yet another bang. The festival has long been a mainstay for artists wanting to make a (global) mark, and that is only becoming more true with each passing year…

So many moments

As with previous editions but even more so, this year’s Coachella was full of “moments”: Billy Corgan appearing on stage for the first time (with Sombr), Teddy Swims inviting Vanessa Carlton of all people, Sabrina Carpenter with Madonna as special guest in a seminal passing-the-baton sequence, Camila Cabello with Young Thug, M.I.A. performing “Paper Planes” with Major Lazer aka long-time producer Diplo, the Strokes ending their set with an eminently political message… Most of these things came as surprises and many will probably remain focal points in these respective artists’ bios…

And then you have the less surprising, yet equally potent moments stemming from particularly impactful performances. Iggy Pop, the definitive OG, performing “Passenger” at the grand old age of 79, having survived Lou Reed, David Bowie as well as most of his contemporaries; fellow veteran David Byrne putting on a show artists half his age could only dream of; Laufey delivering a perfectly subdued yet beautiful set; Karol G becoming the first Latine headliner of the festival; Jack White performing his classic “Seven Nation Army” as if it had come out the week before… This list is far from exhaustive, yet it gives an idea of the breadth of talent involved in this event, spanning all generations, genres and styles…

And then there was Justin

But the biggest event this year, likely a career landmark, is Justin Bieber’s de facto comeback moment on a largely empty yet highly stylized stage. Performing in an impossibly minimalistic setup, often playing Youtube videos of his young self before singing over his greatest hits from way back when, the (still) young man clearly gave us a masterclass on how to perform a nostalgic yet relevant set.

There were particular highlights: the Kid Laroi duet on “Stay”, a candid-as-they-go sequence with long-time fan Billie Eilish, a powerful rendering of recent single “Daisies”… all the way to the resurgence of his 2012 Nicki Minaj collab “Beauty and a Beat”! That last one, planned as this show was, couldn’t have been fully anticipated. As it stands, the song currently sits on top of the Spotify Global top 50, nearly 15 years after release. If anything, this goes to show how cultural moments (see: Kate Bush and Stranger Things) can now come from any song, famous or not, recent or not. Such is the modern zeitgeist-making machine.

Now what?

I’ll be honest: this Coachella feels like you can have enough of a good thing. Put differently, so much happened across those mere two weekends, you can’t help but feel a little numb. This festival has effectively become the stage for artists hoping to stand out, the way you produce Oscar contenders or record viral-worthy podcast episodes. Nothing wrong with that: the US entertainment machine is amazing at developing such milestones. The question is — what will remain of all of this in 5, 10 or 20 years? Perhaps none of the above…