The Hu were in town not that long ago, and reviewed for us by Janna when they played their (upgraded) SWG3 gig. They were back in the UK this summer to play at both and Glastonbury and, as many bands do, opted to make the most of their visas with a couple of extra dates around the country. Glasgow and Norwich were among the “smaller” shows (again, venues much bigger than their last tour) and I jumped at the chance to see them for the first time.
Today had been a good day. For those who don’t know, my real job is as a teacher. Today was our end of term, so a half day followed by a late liquid lunch in the blazing sunshine with my colleagues was a great way to get in the mood for tonight. It was marginally cooler inside the Academy than outside, at least to start with.
Openers Tau & The Drones of Praise came on to a largely full venue and little fanfare, but definitely made a mark. I’d not heard of them before tonight, I couldn’t find any information on who was ing prior to the gig to be able to look them up, but they were good. As the name implies, their music is quite “drone-y”. The songs march to a solid, repeated beat and the music seems monotonous – and I use the word in a very literal sense (“mono – tonous”), not in a depreciative way!
It’s not the kind of stuff to go wild at a gig to, but somehow both rousing and relaxing. Had this been an outdoor gig, especially with this weather, Tau would have been perfect to listen to while lying back and sipping on a cold one. Certainly, the audience seemed to love them, with loud cheers after every song. I suspect I was in the minority in not having heard of them before!
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The headliners, though, came on nice and early. Given the now-stifling heat and the fact that I’m an old fart who’d missed dinner, this was a good sign as it meant I’d be home earlier afterwards! Having said that, The Hu were the first band I’ve seen in a while to treat the audience to a full ninety minute show. And what a ninety minutes.
With eight band , there wasn’t a huge amount of space for them to move around even on the large Academy stage, but the focus was very much on the music rather than any athleticism. Aided by nothing other than good lighting and decent sound (essential with the multi-layering of instruments and vocals), our eight Mongolian friends just ploughed through fifteen songs.
In complete honesty I’d listened to a few of their songs in the runup to the gig and… wasn’t that keen. It just didn’t click for me. However, within a few minutes of seeing them on stage my view was completely reversed. This is a band who are most definitely at their best in the live environment, and their best is bloody good indeed.
I’m not going to run through track names as I didn’t know them, but I really appreciated the tone, the sound and the whole orchestral feel to the evening. I was content to stand, watch and listen, but I’m aware of a couple of circle pits and a lot of bouncing elsewhere in the audience! The only song I recognised, and only barely, was a cover of Metallica’s “Through The Never” at the end. The Hu’s version is so wonderfully adapted to suit their own style (and language, they’ve translated it) that I really only caught the main riff and had to double check that I’d heard right when I got home.
The absolute highlight for me, though, was as we were leaving the venue and I was surrounded by half a dozen youngsters who recognised me – pupils from my school who’d been right down the front. Some way to celebrate the end of term, and for one of them their last ever day of school! For another, it was their first gig and hopefully the first of many. To have a band from such a far-flung land sharing their culture, mixing it with a metal vibe, and appealing to our youth… This is how you keep metal safe for another generation!
Chloe did the pics, and also had a few words to say about the Norwich gig:
The Hu – what can I say? I truly didn’t know what I was going to be witnessing as I walked into The LCR in Norwich, however I can honestly say what I saw blew my mind and introduces me to something brand new. Mongolian throat singing metal isn’t a genre I thought existed but I can tell you now first hand that it does and it is I N C R E D I B L E!
As soon as they entered the stage, they had this incredible energy that the crowd were definitely ready for. The technical aspect of their music is what really intrigued me – they are able to combine classic metal instruments such as heavy drum kit, booming bass and riff-ripping electric guitars with traditional Mongolian instruments like fiddles, jaw harps and Mongolian guitars (Tovshuur). They have honestly created the most unique music style I think I have every heard and also developed an education space within their music to bring a variety into the metal scene, highlighting different cultures and bringing a more traditional stylistic approach into their art.
“Wolf Totem” is by far their most popular song and for good reason – with a slow and dramatic build up, The Hu waste no time in going in with the throat singing paired with a catchy beat that only gets louder and faster. “Yuve Yuve Yu” is another of their stand out songs, with a chorus/bridge that just stays in your head no matter how much you may not want it to. If you like bands like System Of A Down (which I do) then I think you would really like this band, purely due to their technical style and unique exploration of sound.
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Pics by Chloe Sibley
