If you’ve spent any time on the corner of the internet that obsesses over Southern Gothic aesthetics or the tragic arc of a girl named Hayden Anhedonia, you know that an Ethel Cain show isn't just a concert. It’s more of a seance. Or maybe a very loud, very sweaty exorcism.
But here’s the thing: her shows have changed. A lot.
If you’re heading out to the Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour in 2026, or catching her at Coachella, don’t walk in expecting a carbon copy of the Preacher’s Daughter tracklist. The Ethel Cain set list has morphed into this sprawling, heavy beast that prioritizes her newer, gloomier material over the "hits."
The Willoughby Tucker Era is Here
Most people still associate Ethel with the 2022 breakout success of Preacher’s Daughter. That makes sense—it was a masterpiece. But in the current 2026 touring cycle, she is deeply immersed in the world of Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You and her late-2025 album Perverts.
The set list usually opens with "Willoughby’s Theme," which sets a mood that is—honestly—pretty unsettling. It’s instrumental, atmospheric, and feels like walking into a humid, abandoned church in the middle of July.
From there, she usually dives straight into the heavy hitters from the Willoughby project. Songs like "Janie" and "Fuck Me Eyes" have become staples. They’re shorter than her older epics, but they hit with a certain raw, unpolished energy that her earlier work sometimes polished away.
✨ Don't miss: Why the Cast of Hold Your Breath 2024 Makes This Dust Bowl Horror Actually Work
The Core 2026 Set List Structure
While she definitely swaps things out depending on the city (more on that later), the skeleton of the show usually looks like this:
- Willoughby’s Theme
- Janie
- Fuck Me Eyes
- Nettles
- Willoughby’s Interlude
- Dust Bowl (The fan-favorite unreleased track that finally got its day)
- Vacillator (From the Perverts album)
- Onanist
- Misuse Oh (Sometimes swapped for "A Knock at the Door")
- Radio Towers
- Tempest
- Sun Bleached Flies (The emotional peak of the night)
Why "American Teenager" Might Not Close the Show
Okay, let’s talk about the encore.
For a long time, the Ethel Cain set list ended with the triumphant, Springsteen-esque chords of "American Teenager." It was the big singalong moment. Everyone felt a little less alone for four minutes.
Lately, though, she’s been playing with the order. Sometimes she tucks it into the middle of the encore, sandwiched between "Thoroughfare" and "Crush." Other times, she skips the high-energy stuff entirely if the vibe of the room feels more "ambient."
Basically, don't get your heart set on one specific closer. She’s leaning into the narrative arc of the Willoughby Tucker character, which means the show often ends on a much darker note than most pop-adjacent concerts.
🔗 Read more: Is Steven Weber Leaving Chicago Med? What Really Happened With Dean Archer
The Mystery of the "Rotating" Songs
If you’re lucky enough to see her in a city where she’s playing two nights—like New Orleans or London—you’re going to get a different experience each night.
She has a habit of swapping the "Daughter" era songs. On Night 1, you might get "A House in Nebraska," which is basically a religious experience for the crowd. On Night 2, she might swap it for "Waco, Texas" or even the massive, ten-minute sprawl of "Thoroughfare." ### A Note on "Ptolemaea"
You might notice "Ptolemaea" is missing from many recent 2025 and 2026 set lists.
Honestly? It’s probably a vocal health thing. That song requires her to literally scream for several minutes. While it’s the most iconic moment of the Preacher’s Daughter lore, she’s been opting for the more melodic but equally haunting tracks like "Nettles" or "Amber Waves" to keep her voice intact for the long haul of a world tour.
The "Perverts" Impact
The release of Perverts in early 2025 shifted the energy of the live show. Songs like "Onanist" and "Punish" brought a much more experimental, industrial edge to the performance.
When you see her live now, there’s a lot more noise. A lot more distortion. It’s less "indie folk" and much more "slow-burn horror movie soundtrack."
💡 You might also like: Is Heroes and Villains Legit? What You Need to Know Before Buying
"It feels like she's trying to bury the 'sad girl' label and replace it with something much more terrifying," one fan noted after the Washington DC show at The Anthem.
How to Prepare for the Show
If you’re planning to track the Ethel Cain set list before your date, there are a few things you should know.
First, the shows are long. Even though the set list might only look like 12 or 13 songs on paper, many of these tracks are 7 to 9 minutes long. With interludes and the "Radio Towers" sequence, you're looking at a solid 90 to 100 minutes of music.
Second, the visuals have changed. She’s moved away from the simple projected home movies to a more deliberate, cinematic stage design. It’s dark. Like, really dark.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Study the Willoughby Demos: If you only know the Spotify hits, you’re going to be lost for the first 40 minutes. Spend some time with the Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You project on SoundCloud or YouTube.
- Check Setlist.fm: She is notorious for changing things at the last minute based on the acoustics of the room. If you're at a theater show, expect more piano; if it's an amphitheater, expect the heavy guitar distortion.
- Hydrate: It sounds silly, but the emotional weight of a song like "Sun Bleached Flies" followed by the industrial grind of "Vacillator" is genuinely draining.
Ethel Cain isn't interested in being a legacy act for an album she wrote years ago. She is moving forward, and her set list is the proof. Whether you're there for the lore or just the vibes, just know that you're walking into a very specific, very intentional world.