The Hu were coming to town. There was buzzing in the group chats, and in the street. Tickets for one of Cardiff’s biggest venues, the Great Hall, had been sold out for weeks. The Hu were a secret to no-one but me.
Not that bands generally need help packing out a metal gig in Cardiff, but this was special, an event. Here were a crowd from a wealth of age groups and nationalities, and as it was a metal gig, we had inevitably made friends with half of them before the main act had even come onstage. New allies from Poland and Hungary were joined by many Mongolians proudly carrying their native banner – Mongolia being where The Hu hail from, and where they’re clearly a source of distinct national pride. The tagline ‘Mongolian metal’ and some earnest arm-pulling was the entire breadth of the sales pitch to me. Say no more.
My decision seemed safe. Young or old, from far or near, everyone we spoke to had the same broad Cheshire grin, and gave the same wry smile when I professed it was my first visit. Something was coming. King Nun opened with some high-energy, well-received heavy alt-rock – tough work on such a big tour – but even they seemed quiet against a larger, excited murmur.
Then came The Hu. Wild in appearance, and playing a style of music directly inspired by the culture and exploits of their Hunnu ancestors, they proceeded to completely dominate the crowd for a breakneck 90 minutes. The marriage of Mongol history; poetry, throat-singing, imposing string instruments such as the morin khuur and the tumur hhuur – marrying that to electric guitars is a recipe for perfection.
Every new song felt like a rallying battle cry that boiled the blood and raised the simmering tension of the crowd to fever pitch. The gig was defined by incredible energy and warmth from every angle: the band, who played with a single-minded warrior intensity; and the crowd, who had only the purest love for the band, each other and the moment.
The Hu, Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union, Fri 2 Dec
words JASON MACHLAB photos ANTHONY JAMES
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