11-09-2009 Jaya The Cat

Supports: Skaguitar; Venue: De Peppel, Zeist (The Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Jaya the Cat has done a tour in The Netherlands. On this night in De Peppel, Zeist they had a support act called Skaguitar.

Skaguitar is Dutch act by Bobie van Houten and Gerben Rienk Visser. In 2008 they released the album “More Ska, More Guitar” (Review). As they announced their selves, the set was fully instrumental as none of them could sing. The duo did bring instrumental back up and played a quite relaxed set which draw attention from the early visitors for a while. When someone found a beach ball in the venue people started to have fun with that and made it clear that Skaguitar would be a perfect act for a beach club.
The set was just a couple songs too long to keep people entertained though.

The band Jaya the Cat is currently based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands but has its origin in America. They combine reggae with rock and punk creating a danceable combination of sound and atmosphere.The set started with some of the wildest songs to change over to the more reggae based song towards the end. Perhaps they could have chosen to throw in some more action in the end as well. Nevertheless, the band is very entertaining to watch and one of the key elements that makes their show a success is the fact that they talk a lot with the audience and make them part of the performance.
Observing the band from a distance make you realize that the band attracts their energy from the audience and making the show a two way conversation. Some place for a solo’s are given every once and a while, but most of the audience takes those for granted instead of giving the soloist their full attention.

In any way, the band makes the whole performance an experience you want to see again. With the only critical mark placed on the fact that the end of the show might have been a bit more energetic.