Live Report: Illness aside, Ethel Cain delivers a musical sermon in the Olympia

A hush falls over the room as Ethel Cain appears on stage to the slow, hypnotising unreleased track ‘Dust Bowl’, the fans swaying along to the haunting vocals before the song erupts into heavy guitar lines and deafening drums, Ethel moaning into the mic.

The singer approaches her music in a fearless manner, undaunted by dissonance and prioritises expression over perfect vocals, which could clearly be seen during her first headline show in Dublin.

Ethel Cain at the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7 June 2024. Copyright Bailey Shropshire/hotpress.com

After her mesmerising opening song, the singer is apologetic for her restrained vocals, blaming her illness and lost voice on the exertion of the first leg of her Childish Behaviour tour.

She stubbornly states “I wasn’t going to not come to my first show in Dublin because I wanted to see you guys.”

Determination being the energy of the night, both audience and Ethel work their way through the setlist of favourites together. ‘A House in Nebraska’ lets Ethel have her own moment before the crowd joined in, almost out singing the artist.

‘Crush’ brings liveliness to the venue, fans pointing up at Ethel with every “you” and roaring along with “yeah right he fucking loves me!”

Ethel Cain at the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7 June 2024. Copyright Bailey Shropshire/hotpress.com

The indie artist played a few unreleased songs, introducing ‘Amber Waves’ by inviting the crowd to be as still as possible and letting the music pass through them, the track filled with the juxtaposition of Ethel's soft vocals against ear-splitting guitar.

It’s as though the fans are in a trance as Ethel sings a prayer that everyone sways along to.

‘Punish’, another new project, brought the room to near silence with its suspenseful, animalistic elements, Ethel vocalising like a bird lost in the night. ‘Thoroughfare’ follows, a more playful track that has the crowd clapping along.

As the American artist takes a 30-second break between songs to sip some water for her aching throat, the Irish crowd erupts in a chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. An audience member throws a keffiyeh scarf onstage which Ethel ties onto her mic stand, joining in on the chant.

The impromptu moment of solidarity ends as ‘Sun Bleached Flies’ begins to play, the venue charged with electricity from the connection the artist and audience just shared.

Ethel Cain at the 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7 June 2024. Copyright Bailey Shropshire/hotpress.com

She completes the emotional rollercoaster of a set with a cover of ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ and her pop-hit ‘American Teenager’, the singer and the band worn out from sickness yet still jumping around the stage, unregretful in their choice to push through for Dublin.

After spending an intimate hour singing alongside Ethel as she took them through her life filled with religious trauma, relationship issues and identity crises, the crowd leave the venue somehow even more infatuated with the southern singer than when they walked in.