When you're a band from Mongolia playing traditional Mongolian instruments, doing traditional Mongolian throat warbling and weaving that into a metal-based rock show it must be kind of hard to pick a suitable support act. Tonight we are presented with Tau & The Drones Of Praise, (or, according to my notes before I managed to find them on the poster Tower and the Drums of Penis) a slightly frayed-at-the-edges bunch of Irish folk musicians who incorporate a touch of rock, a bit of rave and a lot of harmony into their sound. They started off with some chanting and a semi-acoustic song that incorporated a fair bit of mandolin. The predominantly rock crowd eyed them with some suspicion, this wasn’t really what they were here for after all. It reminded me in places of The Levellers, there was a touch of politics in the lyrics and a lot of airy-fairy hippiness on the vibe. The vocals are both a strength and also a weakness, as in places they live up to their name and it does get a bit drone-y and ever so slightly off-key. As a child of the 60’s who grew up with a folk-singing mother I liked them, it’s always good to see something out of the ordinary. Their final song draws inspiration from Kula Shaker’s ‘Tatva’ and again it’s not bad at all.  

This time I have much more of an idea of what to expect from headliners The Hu, but the sheer primal rawness of the first song still takes me by surprise and takes my breath away. That deep-in-the-soul vibration is back. It's stirring stuff, it's the embodiment of a warrior soul, it's battle hymns, it’s a call to arms and so many other descriptors that other bands have taken and made their own but that should really belong to The Hu. They are on a mission to steal your soul, and opening track ‘Hohochu Zairian’ may have an unpronounceable title and incomprehensible lyrics but the power of the music still nudges something primal deep inside you. This is not a band for small talk between songs, they occasionally bark out the song titles but that’s about it. The sound is unique, it's rock Jim but not as we know it. The traditional Mongolian instruments strip the sound back to its roots and then reassemble it in a way that is familiar yet also completely different to anything else you have heard. Their use of Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar) and Tumur Khuur (jaw harp) together with the throat singing result in a sound that is both sophisticated and at the same time primitive. The crowd reaction is incredible, they love these guys and they too are a part of the show; they're immersed in it, they too become Mongolian for a brief hour. At times the music is almost operatic in its complexity and power. There’s a slightly commercial aspect to it as well though, and they even sneak a couple of woah-oh choruses in under the radar! There is a change of pace mid-set with the beautiful acoustic ballad ‘Mother Nature’, a song that merges an eco-warrior message with a symphony of sound and just a smidgeon of far-east spiciness. The whole show sweeps you up and transports you to steppes and mountains of Mongolia and you too can be a warrior for the night. I'm trying to count how many band members there are on the stage and I think it’s eight? There are certainly two drummers or at least one drummer and one extra percussion guy who's hitting things with sticks. No wonder the music makes you vibrate! The last song of the main set is ‘This Is Mongol’, and  it’s another cry to battle with shades of Rammstein and Rob Zombie and a pound-the-air chorus. This isn't just a gig, it's an experience and although the main set finishes on that song they are soon back to raptures from the crowd and their deconstructed version of ‘Master of Puppets’ which is yet again a masterpiece. With that we're done, and I step out of the venue expecting to see rolling grasslands and a horse to take me home. Lime Street car park was an anti-climax to be honest!  

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
The HU, Tau & The Drones Of Praise