Last Saturday I saw the Wild Eyes again for the first time since 2005. Last I’d heard they’d broken up some years ago – I was always a fan, so when I heard they were back I was pretty excited, and when they played a set of all-new songs, I was really excited.

Last time I saw them, front-man Nikhil was in a short, hot pink wig; aside from the fact that this time’s wig was platinum blonde, visually they hadn’t changed. Their sound however had changed quite a bit. The new material feels a little less frantic (which isn’t really the word but…) and a little more measured…older and wiser maybe? I dunno, and it doesn’t really matter – the point is they’re back and they’re better than ever:

Even though I was mainly there for them, the Wild Eyes were actually the support act – the night’s main attraction was Spoek Mathambo & Mshini Wam.  I’d read that they’ve been touring across the world in all kinds of interesting places, and that their music is a sort of experimental mix of electro, hip-hop, rock & kwaito – so that all sounded pretty promising. Their rather bizarre (yet not exactly unenjoyable) reinterpretation of Joy Division’s ‘She’s Lost Control’ aside, I enjoyed them quite a bit.