Photos and Review by Jim LaValley
Galleries: Asking Alexandria, The HU
Asking Alexandria and the Mongolian rock band The HU, on a crisp fall night in Boston, brought their “Psycho Thunder” tour to the Citizens House of Blues. The timing of the show was incredible because it was across the street from Fenway Park during a Red Sox vs Yankees game on Landsdowne St., so you know it was packed with people.
The HU is touring in support of their recently released deluxe edition album, “Rumble of Thunder,” that contains a bunch of hits if you haven’t listened to it. The HU opened up the night with “Huhchu Zairan” with deep-toned throat singing, leading into their distinct war drum beats, combining all of their instruments to create some bad ass Mongolian metal! As the band walked on stage, they took a moment to take in the atmosphere of the Boston crowd, and kicked off their passionate performance for their fans. I loved the way the whole band sang in harmony with their truly unique throat singing, paired with their unique Mongolian instruments to create a live sound like nothing I have heard before, and the crowd was fired up and truly loved it, a good example of their sound is “Tatar Warrior”.
Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts on vocals, was also using a jaw-harp and a Mongolian flute that blended beautifully with their chanting beats. Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar and Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal on the Mongolian horsehead fiddles and throat vocals were fantastic. I loved the sound Gala and Enkush created with the fiddles, even though I couldn’t understand the words they were saying in some of the songs, you could still get into it because of the passion that Jaya executed on stage. Between songs, Gala would comment about how much The HU loves Boston, which was cool and the crowd loved it.
The energy The HU brings is truly felt and transferred to the crowd, throughout numerous songs the crowd would start chanting “HU HU HU,” which as an awesome feeling. The band’s sound is unique and heavy, and you feel that on their setlist, which is loaded with killer tunes from their catalog with a nice treat thrown in there as well. I couldn’t guess it at first, but then it jumped out at me, Metallica’s “Through the Never”. The HU’s version of “Through the Never” was amazing and interpreted in a way I wouldn’t even have thought of, they absolutely killed it. Overall, an inspiring band to get the crowd ready and amped for Asking Alexandria, what an incredible performance from The HU.
The HU’s setlist:
- Huhchu Zairan
- Shoog shoog
- The Gereg
- YUT Hövende
- Tatar Warrior
- Upright Destined Mongol
- Mother Nature
- Black Thunder
- Through the Never
- Yuve Yuve Yu
- Wolf Totem
- This Is Mongol
Asking Alexandria opened up with “The Violence,” from their album “Like a House on Fire,” with Danny Worsnop on vocals, who came out with a hoodie over his head ready to slay the night. I love their music because it’s so melodic, paired with great lyrics, it really burns into your head making it easy to love them. This was the first time I’ve seen Danny perform on vocals, the last time I photographed Asking Alexandria was with Denis Stoff on vocals, back in 2016 on tour to support “The Black” album. From the very first song, you could tell Danny’s vocal range was on point and next level, which was fully displayed that night in Boston. The next tune was their powerful hit “Alone Again”, which really brings home the point of the vocal range of Danny, the combination of heavy metal riffs and the melody of his voice makes this such a great tune. I took a moment to look at the crowd as they were watching the show, and you could tell that they were fully engaged as they were singing along to every song. Asking Alexandria had the crowd right where they wanted them…..
James Cassells on drums and Sam Bettley on bass guitar, were tight and in sync on rhythm the whole night. Cameron Liddell on rhythm guitar, was energetic and pumped up and running around the stage enthusiastically with Sam, you can tell they were excited to play for their Boston fans. The next tune was “Breathless“, which set the tone with the deep heavy riffs along with Danny’s vocal acrobatics, this is a song metal fans have loved for years. This tune displayed how low Danny could truly growl, while bringing his range up to extraordinary high notes. I have seen a lot of bands sing like this in my time shooting but I don’t think anyone can compare to the vocal range of Danny. As Randy Jackson would say, he’s so talented that he could sing the telephone book and you’d love it.
Asking Alexandria also played “Moving On”, an anthem tune which is rich in good vibes and emotion, you feel Danny pour everything he has into this tune. Their whole setlist was packed with great music, you can’t go wrong with any of the songs they played, they are all great in their own way and move the people differently. If you find yourself considering if you want to see Asking Alexandria, do yourself a favor and buy the tickets, you are in for an enjoyable night of killer music, melodies, and some heavy metal.
In conclusion, what a great night at the House of Blues Boston, both bands brought everything they had along with the fans. You could really feel the energy leaving the venue, and overhearing conversations from the fans you could tell they were extremely impressed with their performances. Bravo, Asking Alexandria and The HU, another performance killed!
As this tour is making its way around and it comes by you, like previously stated, do yourself a favor and buy tickets to this tour, you won’t regret it.
Asking Alexandria’s setlist:
- The Violence
- Alone Again
- Breathless
- Killing You
- Bad Blood
- Moving On
- Never Gonna Learn
- Dark Void
- Into the Fire
- Where Did It Go?
- Down to Hell
- To the Stage
- A Prophecy
- The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)
- Let Go
- Alone in a Room