THE HU Hypnotizes Bristol, UK [Review & Photo Gallery]

The Hu

Here at Metal Nexus we love nothing more than grabbing hold of new talent and the next biggest act on the planet. From the moment we watched the debut video for The HU called “Yuve Yuve Yu,” we just had to cover a live show to witness what these guys were about.

With a set time of 9:15 p.m. and doors at 7.30 p.m., knowing there was no support bands, fans had filled the venue to get into the spirit and grab their place as close to the barrier as possible. The venue did have a plus, here to warm the crowd up was a DJ set by RXPTRS guitarist Ian Chadderton – if you are not aware of RXPTRS, check them out. After hearing tunes like Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody – with Limp Bizkit thrown into the mix as well – the crowd were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The Hu

It was time for The HU to get on stage. In anticipation, the audience chanted “hu, hu, hu, hu.” All four members then came out onstage, accompanied by a few session musicians, and went straight into their first track “Shoog Shoog” (which has just had a lyric video released on YouTube). When the song ended, the fans erupted, and The HU were welcomed with the loudest cheers I’ve heard in this venue. The band doesn’t speak much English but shouted out, “Hello, Bristol!” and the crowd replied with the chanting of “hu, hu, hu, hu,” which continued through the night.

There were two drummers present: one on a full Yamaha drum kit, then the other on a set of giant toms decorated in various colours of leather tassels. Both supplied a very hypnotic beat with every head in the audience nodding along with approval. On the sixth track, they got the crowd clapping along to the beat, and I didn’t see one person not get involved – check the photos. It’s such an amazing feat for this band to be selling out dates on this tour solely because of the video for “Yuve Yuve Yu” which went viral in a matter of hours – and rightfully so. There is something almost trance-like about the rhythm they supply. After every tune they played whilst waiting for the next to start, there was football sounding chants of “hu, hu, hu, hu,” and then The Hu shouted back, “We love you, Bristol!” The band were so appreciative to every single person in the audience.

The Hu

They had a set of 13 songs and waited until song 9 to play “Yuve Yuve Yu.” They followed that straight up with the other viral track called “Wolf Totem” – and yes, that was two crazy moments as that’s the main tracks everyone knows. There was some awesome flute-playing and mouth harp from time to time, along with the horsehead fiddle (a cast-made decorative kind, not a real one). These guys’ musicianship will out class a lot of bands. It was also awesome to see a mosh/circle pit appear from out of nowhere, and crowd surfers from time to time, for these classically trained musicians.

The Hu

Well, what more can I say but what a class act? I came here thinking it might be a novelty type thing, but hell no. Even if you can’t speak Mongolian or understand it, I suggest getting to a show so you can say you have seen them at small venues before they hit arenas. Watch this space as world domination is definitely in the cards. Get behind these guys.

They ended the set with no encore and just posed for a photo with the crowd chanting and cheering behind them. Then their tour manager came out and said, “The guys love you, Bristol, and they want to invite you to the merch table in 10 minutes, and they will sign anything you have.” I stuck around and, true to their word, the band came out, went to the merch table, and were there for at least an hour and 15 minutes posing for photos and signing vinyl.

What a great night, look out for my next review. The pressure is on whoever I’m watching.

Set List