How Ariana Grande defines a post-Beyonce at Coachella 2019

When you're watching an unannounced Justin Bieber run up and down a catwalk to shrieks of applause, and receive nothing but adulation during another artist's headline set at a music festival, you have to take note of how much the cultural landscape has evolved in such a short space of time.

On paper, a festival's decision to book a headliner like pop streaming queen Ariana Grande would have been enormously controversial less than a decade ago. It would almost certainly have been met with a chorus of boos, demanding to know exactly what she has done to earn such an honour – other than break existing sales records and build eye-wateringly large fan bases, that is.

That is now redundant, ancient rhetoric – and thank goodness. In 2019, what once felt like a commercial risk or cultural suicide registers immediately as a no-brainer. Grande is a win for Coachella. Coachella is a win for Grande. There is no longer a division between superstar and tastemaker there. Ariana Grande had already conquered, and therefore she came.

When Grande decided to lend her platform last night to a former teen pin-up who still struggles to be taken seriously by certain facets of the industry, a popstar whose peak existed before this particular era of Coachella lineup diversification, it didn't feel like a risk. It felt like an opportunity to lift Bieber up.

Grande is a win for Coachella. Coachella is a win for Grande

“I wasn't sure whether to bring any guests out tonight,” she said, before calling Bieber on towards the end of her set. She stood onstage watching him perform Sorry. He offered that this was his first time up there in two years, and that he needed to get his “swag” back.

“I had no idea I'd be onstage tonight,” he said, referencing his outfit. Luckily for Bieber, he's always dressed to impress. Bieber had been onsite earlier in the weekend, watching Billie Eilish on Saturday night. This wasn't such an implausible opportunity, particularly given he and Grande share the same manager, Scooter Braun.

Bieber's appearance felt different from Grande's celebratory buffet last week. Her guests then included *NSYNC, Nicki Minaj, Diddy and Ma$e. At the time, I wrote that Grande’s set was “a dedication to what brought her to fantasise about this moment”.

This weekend, backstage rumours were flying about potential alternatives; all in the vein of Grande's personal heroes. Bieber, however, is a more a peer than a lifelong inspiration. It was a little odd to take away from her shine to enable this comeback. Bieber also slipped in his own Easter egg – “By the way, album coming soon!” – before running off, like he'd just written a tweet then immediately logged off the internet.

The gratitude between Grande and Bieber flowed both ways, with a hysterically excessive back-and-forth of thank yous. The favour was Grande's though; a symbol that here stood the female phenomena opening a new door for her male forebear.

Bieber aside, Grande's set benefitted from abandoning the conveyor belt of surprises this weekend. Instead, she was able to transition from song to song, set piece to set piece, without any complications or messes. Where the first weekend’s set was deliciously fun, this second weekend set was seriously adept. No focus was lost in the insanity of navigating so many elements. This was all Grande: the hits, the hair, the voice, and that personality we've come to adore.

At one point on the runway someone from the crowd threw a lemon at her. She commented on the way back to the stage: “That's cos one of y'all threw a lemon at me.” The lemon was a Beyoncé reference, possibly, probably. The 'Lemonade' superstar headlined this festival last year, and it was dubbed 'Beychella'. So, there were suggestions that the Beyhive didn't take well to Grande's 'Arichella' set, or to rumours that Grande got paid more than Queen Bey to headline. But who brings a lemon to a festival site, then positions themselves front-and-centre all day in a field for a closer target? Regardless, Grande took this on the chin. She's been through impossibly worse.

Grande’s headline set wasn't a display of her peaking, so much as it was a showing of her current domination

There wasn't a single thought given to Manchester either weekend, besides a brief shout-out by Diddy that Grande had come up against a lot. Grande took this year's Coachella as an opportunity to re-introduce herself to a global audience; one who knows her songs, but doesn't know her artistic vision, many of whom came to know her via the context of tragedy.

Grande’s headline set wasn't a display of her peaking, so much as it was a showing of her current domination. Coachella's story aligned with hers there. Drawing a line under Beyonce's headline slot in 2018 was a necessary means for the festival to survive and stay relevant. This year felt like a new Coachella, where currency was rewarded and the seeds were sown for future goliaths.

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