By Mali Cash
Ethel Cain (Hayden Silas Anhedönia) reconnected with Australian audiences this past February for the first time since 2023 with a sold-out four-night run at the Palais Theatre in St. Kilda. The quickly rising 28-year singer old brought her signature intimate atmosphere with her, despite the grand stage.
This tour celebrated Cains latest release, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. This album offers a prequel story to her previous release, Preacher's Daughter, in which the tragedy of her embodied character "Ethel Cain" began. Willoughby Tucker's narrative explores the darkest edges of youth — religious trauma, southern gothic horror, and generational abuse — with devastating depth and beautiful musical execution.
It's a story that connects deeply with her listeners and audiences globally. And that connection was on full display here in Australia.
Let me set the scene.
An on-stage wooden crucifix holds Cain’s microphone and helps to carry the storytelling embedded within Ethel Cain’s journey. Inorganic greenery covers the rest of the stage, creating a storybook feel in juxtaposition to, and yet also which embellishes, the weighty imagery of the macabre crucifix powerline.
The band brought a casual, dressed down look to the show, which sat in stark comparison to the poised, pretty, and occasionally pearlescent crowd fashion, some donning long church dresses or country style overalls, and lots of lace, ribbons, and big boots.
As a fan, dressing to reflect the narrative aesthetics of a specific album or artist has become a large part to going to concerts among the younger generations these days. Just like you’d expect to see lots of sequins and color at a Lady Gaga show, at Ethel Cain, there's a heavy "feminine darkness," contrasted with a "masculine country grit" that cradles the crowd.
Indeed, this was a more toned-down version of her set compared to her American and European tour set lists. It was mesmerizing nonetheless. Across the four shows, her sets features some of the same better-known songs from her discography and a lot of unique songs per evening. Her music is often dreamy and slow, emotionally drenched ballads, yet in a few more pop-oriented moments, Cain requested the crowd stand up and jump and sing; a request very willingly fulfilled.
During slower, melancholic numbers like "Janie," "Nettles," and "Willoughby’s Interlude," the emotional sway of bodies rocked the theatre, eyes teary everywhere. During dramatic indie rock songs like "Dust Bowl," the crowd sparked back into an electric mood. She even delighted the crowd with songs never officially released.
The singer became emotional performing "A House in Nebraska" on night 4, even loosening up some tears near the end of the song as the crowd provided their support, singing her through it.
Each night, Cain wrapped her mesmerizing, high-quality set by saying: "We haven’t been home in a long time. But even so, ya’ll know we gotta get a little country. So, with that being said, this one’s called 'Thoroughfare.'"
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Let's talk about the fans.
Fans are central to the growth and arc of any performer’s career. They’re the other half of a performance environment — just as much a part of the show as the performer — only in a less active way. They draw meaning from lyrics and songs, and in turn create their own levels of meaning that can then be leveraged by the artist themselves.
The communities that form around, or adopt, an artist are often reflections of the best and most resonant aspects of their art. Concert crowds will often find ways to take their own brand of fandom to the show, whether through fashion outfits, painted signs, fan-made merch, or behaviors shared by their fellow music lovers. They can use the live environment as a space to let their own creativity loose.
In the case of Ethel Cain, her stories and the way she tells them, helped audiences feel comfortable flocking to the venue in perfectly curated and articulated outfits, matching the aesthetics and meanings within the framework of the show. I attended multiple evenings and met a young Melbournian singer, Carpet Bed, who also kept coming back night after night.
Her Cain-inspired releases have earned her nearly 15,000 monthly listeners. She said she fell in love with this music, and her own compositions share a similar aesthetic. And what keeps Carpet Bed coming back? Cain’s moody and atmospheric style, complete with "sad girl" lyricism, and intimate, synth-heavy sound design and production.
But there’s more to it than that.
Performers like Cain often "shake up" their performances to add intrigue within their crowds, or simply for their own enjoyment. Whether it be alterations to rotating setlists from night to night, ad-libbing vocal riffs and/or changing an intro or outro section. Adaptations like these can add dynamics to a set, to the point where any moment could become "unmissable."
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A lesson on keeping fans coming back night after night.
From an audience's perspective, attending multiple concerts by the same artist in either the same city, or along with them on the road, is a way to dive deeper into their world. It can help bring different perspectives and layers into your fandom experience, and provide insights into their creative greatness and enhance appreciation.
Pricing, of course, is factor to consider. Buying tickets to multiple shows in the same city can become cost-prohibitive, but it's also a moral question. Attending multiple sold out shows might feel unfair to others that weren’t lucky enough to get tickets for a show at all. But in those instances when the opportunity arises, it’s worth it.
Support acts, too, play their part in the success of a show. A well-utilized support artist establishes the atmosphere of the event and builds anticipation towards a shared catharsis. Their performance hypes the crowd up before the main act, and in return they get an opportunity to grow their fan base and convert new listeners.
Amid all the noise and hype in today’s music scene, one thing is clear: building a personalized atmosphere and connecting with your community is key to creating a magnetic environment. Find your own way to do that, in your own style, and your audience will want to come back again and again.
More than ever, people around the world are being brought together by music. Why not make it yours?
Ethel Cain 2026 Tour Dates
APR 14 — San Diego, CA @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park
APR 15 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
APR 19 — Magna, UT @ The Great Saltair
APR 21 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
APR 23 — La Vista, NE @ The Astro
APR 24 — Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre
APR 25 — Newport, KY @ MegaCorp Pavilion
APR 28 — Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory
APR 29 — Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amphitheater
MAY 01 — Franklin, TN @ FirstBank Amphitheater
MAY 02 — Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater
MAY 08 — St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre
MAY 09 — Miami Beach, FL @ Backstage at the Fillmore Miami Beach
MAY 11 — New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater
MAY 12 — New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater
MAY 14 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain's Ballroom
MAY 15 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain's Ballroom
MAY 16 — Tulsa, OK @ Cain's Ballroom
JUN 13 — Luxembourg-City, Luxembourg @ den Atelier
JUN 14 — Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands @ Best Kept Secret 2026
JUN 16 — Cologne, Germany @ The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour 2026
JUN 19 — Cardiff, United Kingdom @ Cardiff Castle
JUN 20 — Halifax, United Kingdom @ The Piece Hall
JUN 23 — Birmingham, United Kingdom @ O2 Academy Birmingham
JUN 27 — Dublin, Ireland @ Fairview Park
JUN 28 — Edinburgh, United Kingdom @ Usher Hall
JUL 01 — Hamburg, Germany @ The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour 2026
JUL 05 — Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter 2026
AUG 01 — Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza Chicago 2026
