Live Review: The Hu

The Hu
The Gov, Monday 16^th March 2020

(Review & Photos by John Glennie)

This was a really unique performance by Mongolian band The Hu – it combined hard rock with traditional Mongolian throat singing and Mongolian instrumentation such as the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), Tumur Khuur (jaw harp).

The energy and the music was outstanding and I had an absolute ball – along with the other 498 people allowed into the venue – thanks to the crowd restrictions imposed due to the Coronavirus! I really wasn’t expecting as many people as had turned up but obviously the impact of The Hu’s Youtube videos have had a far-reaching effect.

All the songs were in the Mongolian language so couldn’t understand what the songs were about, but that didn’t seem to bother the ecstatic crowd. The rhythms are so catchy that you cannot help but dance along. Between every song the   crowd pumped fists into the air while chanting “Hu Hu Hu Hu Hu… (etc)”

The crowd went nuts over more familiar tracks such as Yuve Yuve Yu and The Great Chinggis Khaan (which I presume is their way of saying Genghis Khan). The band frequently fist-pumped the air during songs which only excited the crowd even more. I loved watching the audience head-banging, mosh-pitting and dancing to the amazing rhythms. Other great tracks included the title song from their only album The Gereg and Shoog Shoog.

I had the impression that the only English they know is “thank you very much!” as any other spoken words seemed to be in their native tongue. They are pretty menacing looking guys and it is easy to see how the Mongolian warriors under Genghis Khan were such fearsome soldiers. Despite their looks they came across as really friendly and their musicianship could not be faulted.

The set only went for a little over an hour and they saved their best for the one-song encore with Wolf Totem – I have included their official video to this song below so you can see by the lyric subtitles that they are definitely not love songs!!

This was an outstanding gig and, listening to comments on the way out, all I heard were descriptions such as “unbelievable”, “mind-blowing” and “incredible”. I certainly hope they return down-under and I will definitely be lining up for a ticket.