On December 7th, I went to the well-known Galvanizers SWG3 venue to see The Hu, an 8-piece Mongolian folk metal band who are known for combining modern instruments like electric guitars and drum kits with their own instruments that are traditional to their homeland of Mongolia, including the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), the Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), and the Tumur Khuur (Jaw Harp), while using Mongolian throat singing to make them one of the most unique bands in recent years.
From start to finish, The Hu did not disappoint, with undoubtedly the most unique show I’ve ever seen, while also flying by despite the band playing for around 90 minutes. As soon as they appeared, they’d gathered a mass of cheers from the extremely excited crowd.
A large amount of the set was made up of songs from their debut album ‘The Gereg’, with songs like “Shoog Shoog”, “The Great Chinggis Khaan”, and “Yuve Yuve Yu”. They also played a large amount of their second and most recent album, ‘Rumble of Thunder’, which was released in 2022, with songs including “TATAR Warrior”, “Bii Biyelgee”, and “This is Mongol”. And even though they speak entirely in their native Mongolian language, the whole crowd was singing along to every song in a phenomenal display of crowd interaction.
The band ended their set with their spectacular cover of Sad but True by Metallica, which saw the whole crowd headbanging and singing every word, leading to one of the best closers to a live show that I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. I would without a doubt recommend to anyone to see The Hu live, and hopefully they return soon so that more people can experience this incredible 8-piece live.