Justin Bieber's Surprise MacArthur Park Set Had an Audience of About 18 People

Justin Bieber pulled up to MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on Tuesday with zero warning and played an acoustic set for whoever happened to be there. Four bandmates, acoustic and electric guitars, a cajon, a mic and PA, two amps, and no stage to speak of. One Instagram user summed up the crowd perfectly: themselves, three nurses, and about 14 homeless men.

The setlist pulled from SWAG with“ALL I CAN TAKE,”“YUKON,”and“DAISIES,”plus“SPEED DEMON”off SWAG II. Bieber also performed an unreleased song and wrapped things up with a drum-circle-style percussion jam, according to fan footage from the scene. Afterward, the same onlooker says he signed a man’s wheelchair, which is honestly the kind of detail you can’t script.

It’s a wild pivot for an artist who’s recently been doing stadium-scale sets at Coachella and the FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show. So now we’re all wondering: is this the start of a run of surprise pop-ups, and what does that unreleased track mean for a future release? Would you show up if a star like this appeared in your city’s park tomorrow?