By Jessica L. Smith, Senior Opinion Editor
To say that attending an Ethel Cain concert is a religious experience seems cliché. Cain, or, to use her real name Hayden Anhedönia, has constructed a musical career under the pseudonym of a character facing religious trauma, questions of faith and a loss of innocence. It would be ludicrous for Anhedönia’s live shows not to feel sacred. There’s something celestial about a congregation of concertgoers, wearing a multitude of camouflage, white vintage dresses, and rosaries that align with Anhedönia’s carefully curated aesthetic, who are simply honoured to be in her presence.
Anhedönia’s stint of five shows at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo brings the anticipated ‘The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour’ to London. After the success of Anhedönia’s recent release of Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, the second concept album featuring protagonist Ethel Cain after the 2022 release of Preachers Daughter, the tour promises a compelling night of ambient music. Anhedönia certainly achieves this. With a stage comprised of looming, mossy branches hung above a live band who fade in and out of focus due to the thick, Gothic fog, Anhedönia frames herself in the centre behind a cross-shaped mic stand for a career-spanning setlist. Strikingly, Anhedönia remains a silhouette for the majority of the show, bathed in darkness and only briefly stepping out from behind her podium to encourage the crowd to sing along. Yet, Anhedönia’s presence alone carries a live show that feels as if a work of visual art is being constructed right in front of your eyes.
The set begins with the haunting and ominous instrumental ‘Willoughby’s Theme’ from Anhedönia’s most recent album, an ambient number that seems straight out of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks soundtrack. As the accompanying live band play, Anhedönia appears out of the fog, awakening the crowd by amassing their screams. Yet, much to my surprise, the crowd remain silent for much of the set, simply swaying and appreciating the performance art. Anhedönia glides us through many of the hits from her latest album, such as ‘Janie’ and ‘Nettles’, and even the sultry ‘Vacillator’ from her more experimental 2025 album Perverts that moved us briefly away from the Ethel Cain universe. One highlight of the set was Anhedönia’s performance of ‘Dust Bowl’, a brooding song that captures the heartbreak and bittersweet essence of doomed teenage love. After initially pausing the song due to noticing an unwell member of the audience, Anhedönia shows her commitment to the experience of the show by restarting the number in which she sings from within an encompassing, rotating beam of light. ‘Dust Bowl’ slowly builds and ascends into a guitar crescendo, which, when accompanied by Anhedönia’s incredible live band, is electrifying. To hear live percussion with Anhedönia’s songs is exhilarating and the crowd appear to concur with this, raising their hands in the air and hollering at the beat drop of the song.
With a setlist rich in heightening atmosphere, mirroring the build-up of songs like ‘Dust Bowl’, Anhedönia’s encore provokes the crowd’s release. After attentively appreciating Anhedönia’s stunning performance art until the atmosphere created feels palpable, when Anhedönia curves toward her poppier hits ‘Crush’ and ‘American Teenager’, the crowd is set alight in a mass of singing and screaming. Encouraging the sea of phones to be put away and for the crowd to instead clap their hands, Anhedönia struts toward the front of the stage, offering a moment of connection after only briefly communicating her thanks in between songs. It has been an ethereal set, one that harnesses the power of live music into creating something atmospheric and artful, nothing short of a religious experience.
Image taken by the author.