Despite the language barrier that separates fans and their leather-clad Mongolian metal-rock superheroes, there is a sense of shared spirituality, a collective love of tribalism as the first notes escape the stage that The Hu will call home for the next couple of hours.
Faces are attentive, and rigidly facing the stage – there's an almost trance-like state in some of the punters who are ready to unleash a stack of pent-up energy from the depths of their souls. . . it's almost like a rumble is emanating from beneath the floor like a pack of Przewalski's horses are thundering pass as the band ignite into a wall of bone-crunching sound.I won't lie. . . picking one track from the next proved to be a difficult task for this listener (thanks to Setlist for the post-show research help!) from the get-go when the band played 'Rumble Of Thunder' (new album out next month) song 'Shihi Hutu' to open proceedings.
Image © Clea-marie Thorne
But The Hu aren't your stock-standard metal-rock band, and the audience was locked into every move the eight-piece (including double drum kits) made.
The set was an equal mix of songs from debut album 'The Gereg' ('Shoog Shoog', 'The Gereg', 'The Great Chinggis Khaan', 'Shireg Shireg', 'Yuve Yuve Yu' and 'Wolf Totem') as well as the aforementioned 'Rumble Of Thunder' ('Shihi Hutu', 'Black Thunder', 'Bii Biyelgee', 'Tatar Warrior' and 'This Is Mongol').
Although the vast majority of the performance contained very little English (aside from the occasional "we looove you" roared back at us), in between songs, certain areas of the crowd would start "HU! HU! HU!" fist-pumping chants that added to the collective unity felt across the room.
Image © Clea-marie Thorne
Their cover of Metallica's 'Sad But True' was greedily soaked up by the crowd, the hit of nostalgia of the original song bringing many in the audience to 'head-banging' life.
By the time the crowd was escaping into the cool August's night air, the collective grins, hugs, high fives and general merriment on display fortified The Hu's reputation for bringing people together from all walks of life in the collective pursuit of music that not only lights an intense fire of passion but also promotes a shared conscious related to Mother Nature.
More photos from the show.
