Live Review: Ethel Cain - Eventim Apollo, London 07/10/2025
Ethel Cain takes to the stage at night two of the London leg of her tour at Hammersmith Apollo for a rejection of the typical pop show in favour of avant-garde southern gothic experience that lends itself to excellent production value and makes the most out of her Willoughby record.
Few artists have the skill to produce two records as radically different as Ethel Cain in a year and over the course of a two hour twenty minute setlist she finds a way to get the most out of both Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You and Perverts in a way that few artists can. Whether it’s using Vacillator to blend Perverts and Houseofpsychoticwomn together or Onanist with elements of pulldrone, Cain is a master of her craft – refusing to let the multiple fan emergencies get in the way of her set. It happened three times over the course of the evening which was a real shame – disrupting an otherwise immaculate setlist. It’s not hard to drink water before going into a concert; especially when it’s free.
The twelve song main set ran through the album tour – Willoughby’s Theme got things underway before switching back to album opener Janie; and album highlight Fuck Me Eyes followed. To call an Ethel Cain show a traditional pop show would be a mistake – it’s anti-pop; artpop – a direct contrast to the more traditional ilk like Lana del Rey and Lorde. Hidden behind spotlights and shadows she remained hidden throughout much of the set; protecting the artist and lending to the anonymity of fame. Her music is telling in that her album drew a lot of fans who don’t know how to behave at concerts; and the fact that there were no less than 3 incidents mars an otherwise engrossing show – but Cain makes the stage her own and gets on with proceedings like a true professional. Perverts is harsh; clashing and nervy drones that act as a noise album – not quite noise rock – but to call Perverts a pop album would be to categorise it as poorly as Cain herself. The moody lighting sets the tone – it’s rare that you get a lightshow this impressive and this crucial to the atmosphere of a gig and she’s able to get the most out of Dust Bowl with a silhouette atmosphere – it’s almost like another member of the band itself.
Stepping into an Ethel Cain show is like escaping into another world for an hour. Fuck Me Eyes has touches of Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes, and feels perfectly at home with the droning sound of Perverts. The intimate setting of the avant-garde clashes with the traditional, mostly young ilk of pop fans screaming along with the lyrics almost feel like they’ve gone with a different concert in mind – they’re expecting a stadium gig and to her credit Cain keeps the expectations in check with something wholly different; and better – an atmospheric mood piece of the highest artform.
It's a tricky space then; to support someone as unique as Cain; but her support are chosen carefully and 9Million deliver; cycling through most of the songs in a reference that spawned from The Jesus and the Mary Chain’s Nine Million Rainy Days drawing a lot of influence from that particular band. Stylistically they fit more with Perverts than Tucker and have worked with Cain in the past; so touring with her feels like a natural next step – experiencing Europe for the first time together as a band. There are touches of shoegaze here and the whole thing comes together incredibly nicely.
The encore is three songs; and of course; American Teenager the closer. Cain comes full circle here; tapping into her debut, Preacher’s Daughter, that earned her so many fans – and is the most traditional pop show her music will get all evening. It’s a real standout in contrast to her subdued; gothic overtures that come from scaling down such a set to a comparatively small arena – other artists could’ve gone bigger; OVO Wembley or even the 02; but there’s something about the Hammersmith Apollo that makes Cain’s talent feel all the more intimate and rewarding. The artist deploys affecting moments and emotional macabre through her world that she builds and lays bear for her fans to follow – Waco Texas being a melancholic descent into the abyss that encourages complete silence in the softer moments. A shortened version of Tempest is the casualty of a fan emergency – not reinforcing the fact that fans; queuing for ages at gigs and not knowing how to behave at concerts, can sometimes spill the mood – but this is a problem not unique to Cain or any artist with a sufficiently devoted fanbase.
Brooding southern gothic is the theme of the day; Cain rejecting her pop stardom and bathed in shadows away from the stage with a cross more visible than her like this is a church and these are her people. There’s no onstage chat; no interaction with the audience – you could quite easily go to an Ethel Cain show and not actually see Ethel Cain at all. But that only enhances the spectacle – the whirry swamp form of Tempest that comes with the set is visualised perfection – and the whole setlist really amplifies this unique otherworldly quality.
Having last seen Cain at Primavera Sound in an open-air setting in 2024 her performance seems suited to an intimate venue like this – which makes the prospect of her return to Primavera in 2026 all the more appealing to see what she’s learnt from the smaller venues to take back to the biggest stage possible.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
