Fantastic Cat keeps it light for today’s Free At Noon

What do you get when you put the frontman of Hollis Brown, Mike Montali, along with indie folk soloists Anthony D’Amato, Brian Dunne, and Don DiLego in white suits on the World Cafe Live stage? A fun-filled concert with a really avid fanbase.

As an Americana supergroup, there’s no clear frontman, but Fantastic Cat takes things a step further. With each new song, the members switched instruments, rotating on drums and bringing out keys, harmonicas, and an accordion. “We’re switching instruments,” D’Amato said. “trading vocals. This band is made of four different songwriters from four different projects… we decided that the four of us should team up, join forces, and make 1/4 the money we were used to.”

Starting off with an on-your-feet version of “The Hammer & The Nail” from their latest album, they kept the good vibes going with singles “Oh Man” from their sophomore album Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat, released June 7th. Other favorites “C’Mon Armageddon” from their debut, The Very Best of Fantastic Cat, also made it on air.

Off to the side of the stage was a digital countdown. “We don’t want to get political here, that’s kind of our modus operandi, but we have a really big election coming up”. The election in question? Fantastic Cat will be eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in roughly 8,112 days. After laughter and cheers, they launched into “So Glad You Made It.”

Fantastic Cat clearly doesn’t take themselves seriously. But it’s their quirky sense of humor and the joy they get out of music that makes them truly great.