Ethel Cain Weaves Love and Lore into Siren’s Song in Berkeley

“I love love…” Ethel Cain sighed with a smile curling onto her face.

The Greek Theater in Berkeley was all love for Ethel Cain‘s performance last night. Just a week after the release of Willoughby Tucker, I Love You, she’s set out for a full tour across the U.S. We had the pleasure of joining her with her fans, surrounded by the eucalyptus trees and cool August San Francisco bay breeze.

Not many words were spoken throughout the night. The power of this artist’s music and words rang through the adoring crowd, who listened and leaned in throughout every word. Lights shone brightly through a beautifully decorated stage, set in an impression of the southern swamps as gritty, deep guitar set the tone for the night. Ethel’s voice cascaded through the ears and we were lulled into the siren’s song.

What’s more, each track held a purpose for the character in the tales of Ethel Cain and Willoughby Tucker. For those who are new to Ethel Cain and are just finding out about her; enjoy the deep dive into the lore.

Ethel Cain, a character invented by vocalist and producer Hayden Anhedönia, is a project depicting a tale through the life of a girl who escapes an abusive home, only to fall into another trap and lose her life for it. There goes the story of Preacher’s Daughter, the album released in 2022. Since then, Ethel Cain has created a prequel album, released on August 8th. depicting the first love of Ethel Cain, which also ended in a similar vein. While we put this together simply here, there’s far more to unpack.

A standout in the performance was not only my personal favorite from the album, “Dust Bowl,” none other than Chelsea Wolfe joined the stage.

See our video of the moment below:

Chelsea Wolfe performed standalone single, “Punish” side by side with Ethel before fading behind the giant door at the back of the stage.

The full set list went as follows:

1. Willoughby’s Theme
2. Janie
3. Fuck Me Eyes
4. Nettles
5. Willoughby’s Interlude (Shortened)
6. Dust Bowl
7. Punish (with Chelsea Wolfe) (Contains elements of “Perverts”, Tour debut)
8. Onanist (Contains elements of “Housofpsychoticwomn” and “Pulldrone”)
9. A Knock at the Door
10. Radio Towers (Shortened)
11. Tempest
12. Waco, Texas
13. A House in Nebraska
14. Crush
15. American Teenager

Get your tickets to the remaining dates of tour here, and stay tuned for more updates on Ethel Cain!