Ethel Cain kicked off the Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour last Tuesday (8/12) at Seattle’s legendary Paramount Theatre where she live debuted most of her new album and even one from her Perverts EP.
She opened with “Willoughby’s Theme,” “Janie,” “Fuck Me Eyes,” “Nettles,” and “Willoughby’s Interlude,” immersing the audience in her album’s ethereal mood.
The live debut streak continued through “Dust Bowl,” “Vacillator,” “Onanist,” “A Knock at the Door,” “Radio Towers,” “Tempest,” and “Waco, Texas.”
For the encore she performed “A House in Nebraska,” “Crush,” “American Teenager” from her more familiar earlier works, to the delight of those not yet familiar with the new tracks which had just been released on the 4th.
Born Hayden Silas Anhedönia in Tallahassee, Fla. in 1998, Cain was raised in a strict Southern Baptist household and studied piano before leaving the church as a teenager.
Her 2022 debut LP, Preacher’s Daughter, was a 75-minute South Gothic concept album exploring family trauma and doomed love.
Initially overlooked on the charts, its long-awaited vinyl release this year made it into the Billboard 200’s Top 10 making Cain the first openly transgender artist to achieve that milestone.
She debuted as Ethel Cain in 2019, with the EPs Carpet Bed and Golden Age, she introduced her mesmerizing Southern Gothic style featuring long, reverb-drenched songs with hushed vocals that build into emotional crescendos.
Signed to Dr. Luke's Prescription Songs in 2020, she released the Inbred EP in 2021, which featuring “Crush” and her collaboration with Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, “Michelle Pfeiffer" whose dreamy, spacy vibe attracted many.
But it has been her feud with the otherwise chill Lana Del Rey that has raised Cain into a wider conversation.
Del Rey claims she was body shamed by the singer. Sad since a decade ago Cain named Lana as one of her favorite artists. In 2017 she covered Lana's "Born to Die," uploaded it and then later deleted the track.
“I didn’t know who Ethel was until a few years ago — when someone brought to my attention the disturbing and graphic side-by-side images she would often put up of me next to unflattering creatures and cartoon characters making constant comments about my weight, I was confused at what she was getting at," Del Rey explained.
"Then when I heard what she was saying behind closed doors from mutual friends and started inserting herself into my personal life I was definitely disturbed.”
Later LDR posted a snippet of a song from her forthcoming album that goes: “Ethel Cain hated my Instagram post/ Think it's cute re-enacting my Chicago pose.”
One might ask why would Lana, who can casually sell out football stadiums like NBD care if someone with one hit record, who is clearly obsessed, feels about your IG post?
To which fans of Lana might answer with: whatever gets her to release that damn record followed by a proper tour is fine with us.
In the meantime, Ethel is on tour and would probably like to make news on her own, without being mentioned to others who are sitting at home on her honeymoon.
Ethel hits LA stating tomorrow for two nights then travels around North America playing theaters. In October she hops the pond to the UK and Europe.
Get your tickets on Ethel's website.
Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour 2025 remaining dates
August 20 & 21 – Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles
August 22 – Arizona Financial Theatre, Phoenix
August 24 – The Bomb Factory, Dallas
August 25 – 713 Music Hall, Houston
August 26 – Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, Austin
August 28 & 29 – The Eastern, Atlanta
August 30 – Asheville Yards, Asheville
September 4 – Stage AE, Pittsburgh
September 5 – The Anthem, Washington D.C.
September 6 – Metropolitan Opera House (The Met), Philadelphia
September 9 – Radio City Music Hall, New York City
September 10 – Kings Theatre, Brooklyn
September 12 – Roadrunner, Boston
September 13 – Outer Harbor Live at Terminal B, Buffalo
September 15 and September 16 – Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto
September 17 – Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit
September 19 – Palace Theatre, Saint Paul
September 20 – The Salt Shed (Fairgrounds), Chicago
October 2 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
October 4 – O2 Academy Glasgow, Glasgow
October 6-11 – Eventim Apollo, London
October 14 – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
October 15 & 16 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
October 18 – Olympia, Paris
October 21 – Carlswerk Victoria, Cologne
October 23 – Tempodrom, Berlin
October 24 – Docks, Hamburg
October 25 – Vega, Copenhagen
October 27 – Sentrum Scene, Oslo
October 28 – Fållan, Stockholm
October 31 – Stodola, Warsaw
November 1 – Velký sál Lucerna, Prague
November 2 – Raiffeisen Halle Gasometer, Vienna
November 4 – X-tra, Zurich
November 5 – Alcatraz, Milan
November 7 – Razzmatazz, Barcelona
November 8 – Teatro Eslava, Madrid
November 9 – LAV Warehouse, Lisbon
