This wasn’t a concert, it was an experience. The Hu, a captivating Mongolian folk/metal band that blends traditional throat singing with groove-oriented hard rock elements, finished a big U.S. tour with a stop at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday night.
It was one of those shows that makes you feel lucky for being there. The next time the Hu tours the States, it’s all but a given that it’ll be in a bigger venue — as the Fonda was packed with adoring fans who didn’t ease off the energy throughout the night, which stretched close to midnight by the time the encore was over.
Throughout the night, enthusiastic chants of ‘HU!’ emanated from the floor up toward the stage, and while the show may not have been entirely sold out, it might as well have been.
The band, touring in support of its full-length debut, The Gereg, hit the jackpot as far as internet buzz is concerned with a series of epic music videos that have to be seen to be fully appreciated.
The combination of hard-rock/metal elements with traditional throat singing and Mongolian instruments like the morin khuur, the tsuur and the jaw harp, are the name of the game, and it all translated exceptionally well to the intimate confines of the Fonda.
For more than an hour, the Hu demonstrated why they’ve earned so much acclaim lately. There’s simply nothing else around right now doing what they’re doing, mashing up genres and styles — and cultures — into a mix as relentlessly entertaining as theirs. It didn’t hurt that the band members, flanked by four additional touring musicians, whipped together a sound that reverberated around the venue for the entire set, adoring fans fist-pumping and chanting along wholeheartedly.
The song above, “Yuve Yuve Yu,” has been earning some attention lately on SiriusXM radio channels, even earning a remix/guest appearance from From Ashes to New vocalist Danny Case, who popped up during the encore for the band’s second performance of the song on the evening.
For the very last song, “Wolf Totem,” the Hu welcomed Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix to the stage. The front man, a ball of energy who never quits moving and twisting around up there even when he isn’t speaking into the mix, added a bit of rapping to the song, which worked just as well as it did with Case’s lines on “Yuve Yuve Yu.”
Fun surprise to cap off an epic night when @JacobyShaddix of @paparoach joined @TheHuOfficial to close out the evening pic.twitter.com/uPG4EucY2p
— Adrian Garro (@adriangarro) December 11, 2019
The crossover appeal of the Hu is readily apparent, and the contributions from two hard rock singers in the final minutes of the band’s biggest international tour to date didn’t go unnoticed.
They’re primed for a bright future and an even bigger 2020, so pay attention!
