The Hu brought a tribal ritual to Harrah’s Resort Southern California with Apocalyptica and The Ramsus.
On Sunday May 31st, Mongolian folk metal band The Hu brought their unique and compelling sound to Harrah’s Southern California Resort, in Funner, CA. Formed in 2016 The Hu blends traditional Mongolian instrumentation such as the morin khuur or horsehead fiddle, and tovshuur or three-stringed lute with the ancient art of throat singing, as well as modern rock instruments like guitar, bass and drums. Coming across as intense rhythmic grooving with deep, guttural heavy metal growls, the band’s music perfectly melds traditional instrumentation and cultural singing styles with heavier rock leanings. The Hu describe their unique sound as “hunnu rock,” a name derived from the Hünnü the Mongolian term for the Xiongnu, a historic nomadic empire. To complete their distinct style, the band incorporates authentic Mongolian language poetry and historic war cries into their lyrics and music, along with plenty of heavy metal influences. The sound is intense, primal, and infectious—an absolute blast to experience live with a pumped-up audience chanting along.
Finnish band The Rasmus opened this awesome show and their energy was incredible right out of the gate. Formed in 1994 the band has a long and storied history and it was amazing to just discover them at this show. Featuring the animated and energetic Lauri Ylönen on vocals, the intense frontman ran all over the stage and jumped through the air at multiple points during the band’s short set. Bassist Eero Heinonen was super fun to watch as well, laying down heavy riffs on bass while also leaning down to play some quieter sections directly to the audience in the front row. Emilia “Emppu” Suhonen was a wild woman on guitar playing intensely shredding solos, slamming her head and twirling her hair. As a special treat at this show, drummer Mikko Kaakkuriniemi from Apocalyptica was filling in. What an absolute monster behind the kit! His playing and energy were phenomenal throughout the evening. Closing song “In The Shadows” was clearly a crowd favorite of the band’s unfortunately short set.
Finnish symphonic metal band Apocalyptica was up next on this evening of incredible string music. The band is world-renowned among heavy music fans for their 1996 debut studio album, “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos.” At this show, they leaned heavily into that material, as well as a Vol. 2 released in 2024, much to the crowd’s delight. The band’s covers of Metallica classics like “The Call of Ktulu,” “The Four Horsemen,” “Master of Puppets,” “Nothing Else Matters,” and “Seek and Destroy” were absolutely amazing to see live. Eicca Toppinen leads the group on cello along with Paavo Lötjönen and Perttu Kivilaakso. The trio’s incredible energy on stage while playing these songs is so fun to experience in person. They play all the instrumentation, including the intricate guitar parts and solos, while wildly bowing three cellos. And as a heavy metal fan, the songs are so very familiar but in a different and beautiful way. Seeing this band on this bill was an absolute treat and they added so much to an already fantastic show.
Headlining this incredible night of diverse musical talent was The Hu. Led by frontman Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar, who plays the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) and performs throat singing, the band has such an incredible stage presence and power in their live performance, they absolutely own the room and demand their audience’s attention. The Hu’s concerts seem more like tribal rituals and gatherings than traditional rock concerts. And despite a huge language barrier, everyone in the audience could still chant along to their distinct songs. Chants of “Hu!” “Hu!” “Hu!” broke out frequently in the large crowd. The band also features Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts on the tumur hhuur (jaw harp), tsuur (flute) and throat singing; Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal on morin khuur and throat singing; and Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar on tovshuur (stringed lute) and backing vocals along with a talented touring band of percussionists and others with more traditional rock instruments. On this night the band tackled a sixteen-song setlist, highlighting songs from all of their albums including the new release “Hun,” set to come out on July 24, 2026. Crowd favorites included “Horse Men,” “Warrior Chant,” “Black Thunder,” “Yuve Yuve Yu,” and “Wolf Totem.” An encore cover of Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper,” sung in Mongolian, closed out the show and was a highlight for all the metal fans in attendance. Be sure to experience this one of a kind band and join the ritual in person whenever they visit San Diego again.
