Ethel Cain Breathes Life Into Willoughby Tucker Concept Album at The Bomb Factory

Lights dim, smoke and green lighting obscure the stage as a haunting, droning tone fills the room. The stage is adorned with limbs smothered by Spanish Moss, and Ethel Cain steps behind a cross pulpit, seemingly preparing to preach to The Bomb Factory congregation on Sunday, Aug. 24.

Walking into the venue, there’s a distinct look that separates the everyday Deep Ellum patrons and the attendees of the Ethel Cain show. The first giveaway is the outfits composed of some combination of white lace, camo print, cowboy boots and a flowing skirt or dress. Rather than feeling like an attempt at a makeshift fashion show, though, the outfits feel like personal expressions that fit within the ethos of Cain. The second hint that something big was happening in Deep Ellum last night was the queue that spanned the two surrounding blocks of Canton Street before doors opened.
The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour accompanies Cain’s recent album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. The album follows the story of the fictional characters Cain and Willoughby Tucker, who were created by the musical artist Hayden Anhedönia. Anhedönia has been performing under the name Cain since 2019 with the release of her first EP, Carpet Bed. The story of the character of Cain was fully fleshed out in her third studio album, Preacher’s Daughter. The life of Cain is a hauntingly tragic one, and the music through which the story is told complements the tale through its lengthy tracks, moving vocals and instrumental experimentation. Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, looks back in time into Cain’s life before the tragic events of Preacher’s Daughter took place.

On this tour, Anhedönia brings Cain and Willoughby Tucker, as well as other characters from their lives, to life. The show feels like a captivating emotional experience rather than any old concert. To watch and hear the lives of fictional characters unfold in front of you is a wholly new experience for most concertgoers and feels more akin to watching an opera or play, only one where audiences are encouraged to sing along.

Anhedönia’s stage presence is undeniable. When you have the ability to simply lean on a prop and have a packed-out room cheer for your silhouette, you know you have something special. Unlike most concerts, very little was spoken between Anhedönia and the audience, save for the occasional responsive “I love you too.” This, too, added to the elusive and enchanting atmosphere created by Ethel Cain.

The opening act, 9Million, brought the energy needed to prime the audience for a truly spectacular show. With their reggae, rock, grunge fusion and nine-piece band, it was difficult not to feel the exciting energy buzzing off everyone in the audience.

Anhedönia kicked off the show with a string of songs off the new album, opening with the first track on the album, “Janie,” a song about the fictional Ethel Cain’s best friend from her hometown. Not long after, Cain brought the tone down slightly with the song “Nettles,” which details Cain’s fears of losing her beloved Willoughby Tucker and his somewhat futile attempts to reassure her. This is where Cain’s vocals were truly put on display. The song shifts between a lilted whisper and a more resonant belt, which she pulled off effortlessly. The tempo of the show picked back up as she performed “Dust Bowl,” and then was immediately brought back down with her live debut of the song “Perverts” from her 2024 EP of the same name.
The show was packed out, but this was one of those crowds where you got the sense that everyone was looking out for one another. Three times throughout the night, the action of the show came to a halt as audience members requested medical attention. Cain would stop playing, house lights would come on and the person in need would be assisted by venue medical staff. With queues that start hours before the show in the Texas summer heat, it’s not hard to understand that things like this can happen. Before the headlining set started, Cain's tour manager stepped on stage and requested that everyone take five steps back to give space to those who were more compressed toward the front of the stage and prevent a crowd rush at the start of the show.

Despite the occasional interruptions, though, the show never felt disjointed or thrown off. Cain and her band, once ensuring that everyone in the audience was safe and hydrated, picked right back up where they left off. The set ended with the closing, 15-minute-long track off of Willoughby Tucker, “Waco, Texas.” This song marks the end of the relationship between Willoughby and Ethel, the heartbreaking conversation that they’ve been avoiding for a long time. It is by no means the happiest of notes to end a concert on.
The encore kicked off with a track from Preacher’s Daughter, “A House In Nebraska.” This is the only song on that album that talks about Willoughby Tucker, and is, again, a bit of a downer. Cain herself even jokingly remarked “I don’t know why I put these two back to back.” As she promised, though, she wrapped the show up with two of her more upbeat songs, “Crush” and “American Teenager,” ending the emotional rollercoaster of a night on a high note.

Crowds filed out of The Bomb Factory the same way they always do at the end of a concert — with a little more hope, maybe a touch more sadness and the connectedness that comes from sharing an experience like this with hundreds of strangers. And, of course, the curiosity to see what chapters will come next in the story of Ethel Cain.