The HU Concert Review with The Haunt
Saturday, May 7, 2022
The Castle Theatre
Bloomington, Illinois

 

 

Music is truly the universal language. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote it in 1835. Andrew Wood sang it in 1990. We got to live a little piece of it tonight at The Castle Theatre in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Mongolian metal band The HU sold out The Castle Theatre. The venue has a capacity of eight hundred. The HU wants to spread positive energy through its music.

The band sings in Mongolian, plays traditional Mongolian instruments and uses the technique Mongolian throat singing.  The instruments in addition to drums, guitar and bass are the Morin khuur or horsehead fiddle is a beautiful instrument that may have been in existence for over 40,000 years. It is a symbol of peace and happiness.  The other instruments are the Tovshuur, considered a Mongolian Lute and tumuur hhuur, the mouth harp, and the tsuur, the flute. Throat singing is practiced by the nomadic tribes of the Altai Mountains to imitate wind and water. The HU’s album is named The Gereg. The Gereg allowed Mongolian people to travel in the 13th century all over the world with diplomatic passage so they wanted their band to do the same and spread their positive energy.

Coachella curated a video to introduce us to The HU. This was in advance of their Coachella set on April 15, 2022. You can see their beautiful country here.

Openers, The Haunt, are from Fort Lauderdale Florida and consists of siblings Anastasia, vocalist, and Maxamillion, guitarist, Haunt joined by Nat Smallish on bass and Nick Lewert on drums. The band had high energy with strong, solid alternative rock performance. They dressed like a punk band in black eyeliner, leather, fishnet tights, and metal necklaces. Anastasia kept things interesting by doing backbends while singing and jumping rope with the mic cord.

The Haunt songs seemed to touch on breaking up. They have a new full length album coming out next week.

Their complete setlist:
Morally
Ultra Light
Love You Better
Constant/St James
Brag About
Why Are You So Cold
Hook, Line & Sinker
FML
Make Me King
I’m Not Yours
 

During their last song, Anastasia had to stop the show because a fan in the front had passed out. She alerted security that the person needed help. The person eventually got up and walked out but scared all of us during the opening act. Great to see that The Haunt was paying attention enough to have security intervene.

 
The HU was mesmerizing. The throat singing is almost meditative. I felt like it was similar to chakra chanting. The outcome was the same. The song Tatar Warrior was one of those songs where you just become entranced. I felt the cathartic release of movement and breathing.  Although most of the movement was headbanging. The fans were an eclectic mix of locals and people who traveled from all over the area. There were many Mongolian American fans who drove to support the band.

Even though very few members of the audience understood the words that were being said, they related to the music being played. They felt the power and the message. It was something that you have never seen before.  A positive message in the form of art that we love the most, rock.  

The HU is spreading their positive message all over North America, Japan, Australia and back to North America. Find out where you can see them on their website: The HU

The full setlist for this evening: 

Shihi Hutu
Shoog Shoog
The Gereg
Chinggis Kaan
Shireg Shireg
Uchirtai Gurav
Bii Biyley
Hohchu Zairan
Tatar Warrior
Black Thunder
Yuve Yuve
Wolf Totem
This is Mongol
—————-
encore
Sad But True (Metallica cover)

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                

sources: Wikipedia, Coachella YouTube, RAMzine Rock & Metal YouTube