To celebrate the release of their excellent sophomore album, Now That Is What I Call Fantastic Cat, the quartet Fantastic Cat took over Brooklyn Made for a hometown show on Friday night, June 7th. A packed house filled with friends and family found the band playing almost every song in their repertoire as joyous vibes beamed out from the stage.
The four singer/songwriters, Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne, Don DiLego, and Mike Montali, first joined forces in 2021 with what was thought to be a one-off experience. Yet, the partnership has been so successful that while each continues a solo career, Fantastic Cat seems to just be hitting their stride. The group’s live shows are a ball as each of the band members takes turns playing all the instruments and singing lead.
Arriving onstage in white suits and black shirts, with Michael Hesslein on keyboards, the group kicked things off appropriately enough with “The Gig.” But rather than a tale of broken dreams, this night was a pure upbeat party, with the bumping “All My Fault” sarcastically ringing out next. While the sound levels took a few tunes to figure out (keys were very loud and guitars low to start), the friendly crowd didn’t seem to mind at all.
The emotionally affecting “Wild and Free” was an early highlight, with slow tension building throughout. “Mona, perhaps the band’s best song, was played perfectly mid-set. “Nobody’s Coming To Get You” was delivered in Tom Petty-like fashion, while a new effort, “Edinburgh,” was a pop rock, hip-shaking delight.
The vocal work was pristine and on point for each song. Still, Fantastic Cat broke it down for some serious harmonizing around one mic on a fun cover of “Staying Alive” and their original “Lakewood” before their ode to Bruce Springsteen’s recent high ticket prices, “Sometimes Your Heroes Let You Down”. Springsteen’s influence can be clearly felt in the cruising “Go All Night” while “C’mon Armageddon” cooked with folk-rock charm, and “So Glad You Made It” used a slight country twang to get ahead.
Another new song, “Head Down, Shots Fired,” was turned into a huge rocker as the quartet bounced around the stage with effervescent charm during the country-rocking “I Don’t Know Why.” Smiles and riffs were in equal supply. The band closed out the exuberant evening with a spot-on cover of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Band on The Run,” which was a great way to wrap up the triumphant show as the crowd toasted the band’s new album and helped kick off their upcoming headlining tour.
