📍Moody Amphitheater — August 26, 2025
Written by Perrin Boyd
On a late-summer night in Austin, the Moody Amphitheater became the perfect backdrop for Ethel Cain’s The Willoughby Tucker Forever tour. The open-air venue, framed by the city skyline, carried an almost cinematic quality that matched Cain’s Southern Gothic storytelling. Cain has steadily built a reputation as one of indie music’s most distinctive voices. Her breakthrough album, Preacher’s Daughter, established her as a storyteller blending indie themes with sweeping, cinematic sound. Cain continued to expand that vision with the release of her latest album this month, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You - mixing old sounds with newer songs that hint at what’s next.
Cain’s voice was the anchor of the night. It could be soft and fragile one moment, then strong and commanding the next. Songs from Preacher’s Daughter carried their familiar ache, with the audience singing along to every line. The sound was vast without being overwhelming. Guitars and synths blurred together, drums rolled like distant thunder, and her voice floated above it all. The open design of Moody Amphitheater let the music breathe, stretching out into the warm night air.
The visuals stayed simple but striking. Cain stood mostly in shadows, bathed in deep reds, blues, and whites. With little more than shifting light and her own presence, she filled the stage with an atmosphere that felt both haunting and comforting. The night sky overhead added to the experience. The performance felt suspended outside of time, as if Austin itself had slowed down to listen.
As the night drew to a close, Cain saved her most anthemic moment for last. American Teenager rang out across the amphitheater, pulling every voice in the crowd into one final, cathartic sing-along. The song’s bright energy contrasted with the darker moods before it, leaving the night on a soaring, communal note.
Cain played songs from her new album with intensity and emotion. Nettles built slowly, drawing the crowd into its haunting atmosphere. Fuck Me Eyes felt raw and personal, with the audience moving along to its confessional energy. She finished this part of the set with Waco, Texas, a dramatic song full of vivid storytelling and dark, emotional depth.
What made the evening unforgettable wasn’t just Cain’s catalog, but the way she carried it. A queer artist who often folds her Southern religious upbringing into her work, she transforms personal history into something shared. At Moody Amphitheater, she made thousands of strangers feel like confidants.