Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You

By: Katie Dusza, Asst. News Editor

This past Saturday, Sept. 13, the Outer Harbor Live from Terminal B welcomed alternative/indie artist Ethel Cain, as well as hundreds of guests. 

In 2024 Ethel Cain (Hayden Silas Anhedönia) was my fifth overall artist on Spotify. Her songs “Crush” and “Hard Times” – two of my favorite songs of all time – were my second and fifth most played songs on my Spotify Wrapped. Her 2022 album “Preachers Daughter,” which depicts the escape of a teenage Ethel Cain from her suffocatingly conservative southern hometown, has accompanied me in, and characterized many summer road trips through, the endless, uncanny, yellow fields of the Midwest. When I heard she was stopping in Buffalo on her Willoughby Tucker Forever tour, I immediately tracked down the ticket sale dates and secured them back in March. With the concert lingering in the back of my mind for six months, I had high expectations for the show. It’s safe to say that Cain’s performance matched my expectations. 

Ethel Cain’s music is a unique, melancholic, sometimes dark, beautiful narrative of bone deep love, met with loss and grief. The best way I could describe her music is if the feeling of the pit in your stomach that accompanies deep heartbreak was put in song form. While this may sound unsettling, Cain’s music is tragically comforting. 

Cain’s exquisite song writing is, in my opinion, the most impressive aspect of her artistry. She has a remarkable talent for storytelling. In fact, the stage name ‘Ethel Cain’ comes from a fictional character, created by Cain herself, about whom she writes her music. Her narrative is told across several albums and EPs that each allude to the same timeline. This includes her first studio album, “Preachers Daughter,” released in May 2022, as well as “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,” released in August 2025, the namesake of her ongoing tour. 

Set in 1991, “Preacher’s Daughter” is a narrative about a troubled teenage daughter of a preacher in a small town in Alabama as she grapples with religious trauma, sexuality, love and loss. The album is ultimately a reflection of religious and generational trauma, as well as the dark side of the “American Dream.” “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You” serves as a prequel to “Preacher’s Daughter” focusing on the relationship with her high school boyfriend Willoughby Tucker who is first mentioned in the song “A House In Nebraska” featured on her first album.

The show was held on a stage lined with vines, bushes, as well as dramatic lighting and fog machines to give an eerie, ghostly setting, reminiscent of a marsh. This alludes to the Southern Gothic aesthetic of these two albums, as well as the haunting story of Ethel Cain. 

Cain mostly performed songs from “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,” with a couple songs from “Preacher’s Daughter,” and a couple singles. Cain’s stage presence was majestic and captivating. She sang in a way that demanded the audience’s attention as well as made attendees feel seen Experiencing the immense display of genius and creativity of her music through the piercing instrumentals and majestic vocal performance that took place this past Saturday night is something I, as well as many concert goers, will never forget.