Vocal Thunder and Cello Fire: The HU, Apocalyptica, and The Rasmus Shake EPIC Event Center

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, EPIC Event Center hosted one of the most unexpectedly cohesive heavy music lineups to roll through the cheese head city this year. Mongolian folk-metal phenomenon The HU teamed up with Finnish cello-metal legends Apocalyptica for a co-headlining run, with fellow Finnish rockers The Rasmus opening the night. The tour itself had already generated buzz for pairing cultural mixed metal singing, orchestral covers, and alt-rock into one package, and the Green Bay stop delivered exactly the kind of genre blurring spectacle fans hoped for.

EPIC Event Center proved to be the perfect setting. The venue’s industrial interior and intimate floor layout of all general admission allowed the show to create the feeling of a massive club show rather than a polished arena production. Fans in battle jackets, tour shirts, and studded jeans stood shoulder to shoulder with longtime rock devotees and younger metal fans discovering these bands for the first time. Before the first note even hit, there was a sense that this was less a standard concert and more a traveling celebration of world wide heavy music.

The Rasmus

Long before opening this tour, The Rasmus had already cemented themselves as one of Finland’s promising rock exports. Rising to global viewership in the early 2000s with hits like “In the Shadows,”the band carved out a signature sound built on dark melodies, dramatic hooks, and frontman Lauri Ylönen’s unmistakable voice.

While many American fans still associate them with the goth-rock boom of that era, the group has quietly continued evolving over the years, leaning into a more metalcore sound and more cinematic songwriting.

Their set at EPIC Event Center felt designed to remind people exactly why they became international stars in the first place. They opened with the sharp energy of, “Break These Chains,” and immediately won over a crowd mixed of fans and newcomers to the Finish rock band. Their following set took over the crowd as they ravaged them with;

1. Break These Chains

2. Guilty

3. Rest In Pieces (Personal Favorite)

4. Immortal

5. Creatures In Chaos

6. Living In The World

7. In The Shadows

“In the Shadows” naturally drew the loudest response, turning the venue into one giant chorus. But the real surprise was how aggressive and tight the band sounded live. Songs carried more weight than their studio versions. Rather than feeling like an opener filling time, The Rasmus felt like an essential part of the night’s stacked lineup.

Apocalyptica

If there was any doubts that electric cellos can dominate a metal stage, Apocalyptica erased them within minutes. Formed in the 1990s by classically trained Finnish musicians who initially gained attention through cello-driven Metallica covers, the group has since evolved into one of the most unique acts in heavy music. Their mix of classical precision and crushing metal arrangements remains unlike anything else.

In live form, that sense of uniqueness is only emphasized further. The three players played their respective instruments with an amazing amount of ferocity and gusto.

The most striking aspect of their performance was undoubtedly the sheer physicality of it. Each bow was drawn with explosion, and each coordinated motion added further theatrical flair. Apocalyptica certainly knows how to control a crowd, and they did with the following setlist of Metallica covers;

1. Blackened

2. Enter Sandman

3. Creeping Death

4. The Four Horsemen

5. St. Anger

6. Battery

7. Master of Puppets

8. Nothing Else Matters

9. Seek & Destroy

It was their heavier music that was best delivered, particularly in parts where distorted cello riffs took over where guitar licks would typically come in. They managed to fill the room with an elegance and ferocity that made them impossible not to watch, even for casual observers. In the end, Apocalyptica turned EPIC Event Center into what could only be described as a symphony and metal celebration.

The HU

By the time The HU took the stage, the crowd was fully primed for chaos. Since emerging internationally with their “Hunnu rock” style, blending traditional Mongolian instrumentation, throat singing, and modern metal, The HU have become one of the most fascinating success stories in heavy music. Their rise from viral curiosity to legitimate festival headliner has happened remarkably fast, but seeing them live makes it obvious why audiences connect so strongly with them.

The band’s entrance immediately changed the atmosphere in the room. Traditional instruments gave the stage a visual identity completely unlike any other metal act touring today. Then came the throat singing deep, resonant, and powerful enough to shake the venue before the full band even kicked in.

What makes The HU work so well live is that they never feel gimmicky. Their music carries genuine weight and conviction. Songs built around galloping rhythms and chant-like vocals became communal experiences, with the audience bouncing and shouting along even when they didn’t know the language. That universality became one of the night’s strongest themes: heavy music transcending borders.

The band balanced ritualistic atmosphere with straight-up arena-rock energy. One moment felt hypnotic and ceremonial; the next exploded into pounding percussion and massive riffs. Their stage presence was commanding without relying on excessive theatrics. Instead, the music itself created the spectacle with the following setlist;

1. Intro

2. Lost Soul

3. Horse Men

4. Khukhuchu Zairan

5. Upright Destined Mongol

6. The Men

7. Real You

8. Warrior Chant

9. Mother Nature

10. Shadow

11. Grey Hun

12. Black Thunder

13. Yuve Yuve

14. Wolf Totem

15. This is Mongol

16. Trooper

Closing the night, The HU delivered the kind of performance that leaves audiences buzzing long after the lights come up. It felt primal, modern, and completely singular all at once.

The May 19 stop at EPIC Event Center wasn’t just another package tour rolling through the Midwest. It was a showcase of how global heavy music has become, three bands from Finland and Mongolia bringing wildly different sounds together under one roof and somehow making it all feel perfectly unified.

From The Rasmus’ dark anthems to Apocalyptica’s cello-driven fury and The HU’s thunderous folk-metal rituals, the night constantly shifted styles without ever losing momentum. In an era where many tours blur together, this one stood out because it genuinely offered something different.

For one Tuesday night in Green Bay, metal felt enormous, borderless, and very alive.