If there is ever a day to witness the hauntngly beautiful Ethel Cain it is Friday the 13th.
The final concert I attended while in New Zealand. My friends had said they were going and that was all the convincing it took for me to go and see Ethel Cain. Tickets sold out months ago, but that’s never stopped me before and so I ended up in the pit at Auckland Town Hall. Separated from my friends, but I was still there.
Immediately I noticed that everyone who is an Ethel Cain fan is very tall, and also that the heat inside the venue was oppressive. This is not great as a short person. As I talked with the strangers around me we kept circling back to just how hot this venue was. The opener was not even on stage and i could feel the sweat dripping down my back. It was gross, and i very quickly began to worry about how much I’d had to drink and if it was worth it to relinquish my spot and grab a drink. When I glanced over my shoulder, and saw the amount of people behind me, I decided to just accept my fate.
In all honesty, buying my ticket literally the night before and being only passively familiar with Ethel Cain’s work, I had forgot there was an opening act. My focus dwindling and centring on the heat and how long until I’d be in the fresh air again. When the lighting shifted suddenly to a glowing red and the grunge adjacent sound of Elliott and Vincent filled the hall, I was reminded swiftly of why I love live music, and why sometimes you just have to suck it up when it comes to a lack of air con. It was like being given a second wind of life. Elliott and Vincent were incredible, I loved their sound and it’s not often you come across a two piece where the singer and the drummer are the same person. That sort of coordination and technical skill is so amazing to me.
I didn’t have the best spot to appreciate the show they put on, spending my time on my tip toes to try and see or looking for a gap amongst the moving bodies where I could glimpse them. What was quite amusing was realising halfway through their set why there was something familiar about the name and then googling my hunch to confirm it. Music really does run in the Finn bloodline it would seem. I found it especially ironic that my friends and I had ended up seeing the siblings at back to back shows unintentionally.
Auckland was Ethel Cain’s first stop following her US leg of the ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’ Tour. My friends had put a lot of research into this show, specifically regarding the setlist and what songs she would perform. ‘Night two is always ‘Thoroughfare’, that’s why we have pit for tomorrow’ had been said many times in the past several days, “‘American Teenager’ is in the encore, that’s when everyone dances” was another mantra. So when Ethel Cain decided to open with ‘Sunday Morning’ into ‘American Teenager’, flipping the previous setlist on its head, none of us were prepared for what followed.
The crowd was loud and an active participant from the moment Ethel Cain took the stage, the cues given to the crowd to dance or to echo her were hardly necessary. With it being the first night in Auckland and of the whole tour it really seemed like everyone came to show up and show out. Given the nature of her music, I’d expected the atmosphere to be more somber and reverent, reflecting those themes and dark undertones. More similar to a production than the concerts I am used to attending. The atmosphere of the venue and then the crowd actually lent itself well to those religious overtones. Ethel Cain within her own narrative is the leader of the church choir. Live music and religious gatherings are similar to me in the way that many people from all different places and backgrounds can be united by one singular thing. It was as if we were participants in the choir from the story of Ethel Cain and Willoughby Tucker.
My understanding of the lore is very basic and the fact she did not bring the full production from her US tour to New Zealand further hindered that. I loved her use of the crucifix as a mic stand, how she draped herself across it, or prayed to it, even hiding behind it, to express the emotion and the meaning behind her music. Her stage presence made up for what she did not bring with her, crawling along the stage during certain songs and during ‘Ptolomea’ throwing herself into the ground as she screamed. She made do with what she had, using the lighting during ‘Ptolomea’ to show the perspectives of the two characters and the progression of the story was of portraying the story of Ethel Cain and Willoughby Tucker’s doomed love through the mid section of the set, stepping away from the crucifix when Ethel’s thoughts reject the values of the society she was raised in. I particularly enjoyed the lights during ‘Strangers’, how it almost gave the appearance of stained glass, it was very clever.
Despite not bringing her full production, it was obvious that this show and this tour around Australia and New Zealand was special to her. Changing the setlist, the live debuts of several songs and making deep cuts, like ‘Ptolomea’, staples for this run. The horror of ‘Thoroughfare’ being played in the encore was lost when the following night it returned. Swapping out the staples of ‘American Teenager’ and ‘Crush’ and ‘Strangers’ and ‘A House in Nebraska’ filling in for ‘Thoroughfare’ and ‘Family Tree’. I remember leaving the show and my friends, red faced and in shock, telling me just how insane that show was as avid fans. Personally, I was just really happy she played ‘Ptolomea’, to which they responded with ‘that’s genuinely the third time ever that song has been played.”. It was serious serious to them. Mere moments later, once the setlist was online, just about everyone who knew I was at the show was in my messages. Ethel Cain fans do not play, and it was refreshing to learn the thought and consideration that had been put into the setlist. I’m so used to songs being cut, or being issued the same as US fans, even as a casual listener I felt the impact of those choices.
Ethel Cain gave a phenomenal show. Her vocals were amazing, Auckland Townhall providing some of the best Acoustics. Everything felt so intentional and thought out, the storytelling through the production, lighting and stage presence and then the setlist changes. Ethel Cain, I will always love you.
Backbeat Mag 