Fantastic Cat

Brian Dunne: All right, good evening, Appleton. We are Fantastic Cat. We’re so glad to be here tonight. Are you ready to ride with us? [audience cheering] Oh, that’s right.

[“Nobody’s Coming To Get You” by Fantastic Cat]

[upbeat rock music]

One, two, one, two, three, four.

When you were young and your mom was in charge
And you saw the whole world from the back of the car
It was easy to see how someday you could be something big

But now you’re grown and you make all the rules
You can stand on your head, you can sleep in the pool
And you don’t have to clean
And you don’t have to say that you did

Oh, you get lonely sometimes when the stars don’t shine
And you get a little drunk some nights
Wishing you were a kid again
Wanting someone to hold your hand

Nobody’s coming to get you, baby
Nobody’s coming to get you
Nobody’s going to make this easy
Nobody’s coming to set you up
With a house on the hill and a bottle of pills
And a nice set of china to eat all your meals
It’s sad, but it’s true
Nobody’s coming to get you

Now, there was a time not too long ago
When you felt like a champ from your head to your toes
And you bought every lie that your professors sold you

They said your fate was to soar to the moon
And your writing was great and you were pretty, too
And they asked you to dinner
So they could better understand what you do
That’s true

Oh, and you truly believed in a matter of time
You’d be ready to go and the stars would align
So you step outside
Waiting upon your ride

Nobody’s coming to get you, baby
Nobody’s coming to get you
Nobody’s going to make this easy
Nobody’s coming to set you up
With a house on the hill and a bottle of pills
And a nice set of china to eat all your meals
It’s sad, but it’s true
No, nobody’s coming to get you

[electric guitar solo]

Hey

[electric guitar solo continues]

Oh, you get lonely sometimes when the stars don’t shine
And you get a little drunk some nights
Wishing you were a kid again
Wanting someone to hold your hand

Nobody’s coming to get you, baby
Nobody’s coming to get you
Nobody’s going to make this easy
Nobody’s coming to set you up
With a house on the hill and a bottle of pills
And a nice set of china to eat all your meals
It’s sad, but it’s true
Nobody’s coming to get you

Nobody’s coming to get you
Nobody’s coming to get you, no
Hey, ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh

Look out!

[rapid guitar strumming]

[audience applauding and cheering]

Anthony D’Amato: So, if this is your first time seeing Fantastic Cat, some context may be helpful for all the switching going up here. This band is made up of four different songwriters from four different projects. That’s Don DiLego, I’m Anthony D’Amato. Over there, that’s Brian Dunne, and in the middle, that’s Mike Montali from the band Hollis Brown. And we decided we would join forces, team up, and see what it felt like to start making 1/4 the money we were used to at every show. [audience laughing and cheering]

One, two, one, two, three!

I could blame it on the rain
I could blame it on the snow
I could blame it on the shame
Of another night alone
I could blame it on you
Picking up my call
But to tell the truth
Oh, it’s all my fault

I could blame it on the moon
I could blame it on the stars
I could blame it on the tune
That was playing at the bar
I could blame it on the proof
Of the alcohol
But to tell the truth
Oh, it’s all my fault

It’s all my fault that you kissed me
All my fault that you liked it
All my fault that you wound up in my bed last night
It’s all my fault that no other man
Could ever be enough
Well, it’s all my fault, oh, that you’re in love

I could blame it on the blues
I could blame it on the breeze
I could blame it on the birds
Forever flirting with the bees
I could blame it on the roof
And these four white walls
But to tell the truth
Oh, it’s all my fault

It’s all my fault that you kissed me
All my fault that you liked it
All my fault that you wound up in my bed last night
It’s all my fault that no other man
Could ever measure up
Well, it’s all my fault, oh, that you’re in love

Whoo

[upbeat rock music]

I could blame it on the dress
I could blame it on the ring
I could blame it on the mess
That we made of everything
I could blame it on the suits
Down at city hall
But to tell the truth
Oh, it’s all my fault

Whoo!

It’s all my fault that you kissed me
All my fault that you liked it
All my fault that you wound up in my bed last night
It’s all my fault that you called me
All my fault that you came
All my fault that you wound up with the same last name
It’s all my fault that no other man
Could ever be enough
Well, it’s all my fault, oh, that you’re in love

Whoo!

[audience applauding and cheering]

Anthony D’Amato: Thank you. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

[“Later On” by Fantastic Cat]

Brian Dunne: All right, how you doing out there? [audience applauding and cheering] Saturday night in Wisconsin. What a time, what a crowd. [audience applauding and cheering]

Well, I gotta tell you, we’re all from back in New York, and we all kind of come from humble beginnings.

[steady electric guitar music]

[Brian laughing]

So it’s amazing to be here tonight. You know, I remember my pop would go to work every day at the factory. He’d put his shirt on at 6:00 A.M. He’d come home late at night, covered in sweat… cheesecake underneath his fingernails. The Cheesecake Factory was our town.

And when that Cheesecake Factory closed down and all those jobs went overseas, well, man, things weren’t the same. So we’d like to send this song out tonight to the Cheesecake Factory. [audience applauding and cheering]

One, two, three.

Later on
When they’ve all gone
I’ll save a seat next to me
For the long ride home

And late at night
When the world is quiet
At least you’ll know in the afterglow
You’re not alone

Isn’t it just madness
The life we made
Chaos every second now
Big mistakes

I don’t wanna be
Who they want me to be
And nobody sees me the way that I see me
Like you see me

Later on
When they’ve all gone
I’ll save a seat next to me
For the long ride home

And late at night
When the world is quiet
At least you’ll know in the afterglow
You’re not alone

Lately I’ve been thinking
Maybe I shouldn’t think
It’s caused me nothing but trouble now
Among other things

Maybe I’ve been standing
A bit too long in the crowd
Wondering if I seem like I made good on my dreams
Or just flamed out

Ah
Ahh, ahh, ahh

Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh

Ahh, ahh, ahh

Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh

Later on
When they’ve all gone
I’ll save a seat next to me
For the long ride home

And late at night
When the world is quiet
At least you’ll know in the afterglow
That you’re not alone
You’re not alone

And later on
Later on
When they’ve all gone
They’ve all gone
It’s hard to believe
How hard it can be
To find some relief

And late at night
Late at night
When they kill the lights
Kill the lights
Oh, nobody sees me the way that I see me
Like you see me

And later on
When they’ve all gone
I’ll save a seat next to me
For the long ride home

Mike Montali: Brian Dunne, everybody! [audience applauding and cheering]

Brian Dunne: What do you say, gang? I think we’re ready to take it up a notch.

[“Go All Night” by Fantastic Cat]

[high-energy rock music]

I got a weight on my shoulder
It’s the size of this town
I got a head full of garbage
It’s been bringing me down
I had a band up in Boston, yeah
We went our separate ways
I got a job at Guitar Center
I f**ing hate this place*

My friend Maggie had a baby
Everybody was crying
And now she’s gotta be a mom forever
She didn’t seem to mind
There might be something really wrong with me
But I think it’s all right
I got a heart like an engine
And I can go all night

Well, I can go all night, friends
I can go all night, friends
I got a heart like an engine
And I can go all night

I said, “My, what a great place
“Everybody here’s in great shape
“Everybody had a great time
Everybody’s doing great”
They said, “Brian, you seem angry
Are you feeling all right?”
And I said, “It’s fine, I’m just venting
And I can go all night”

Well, I can go all night, friends
I can go all night, friends
I got a heart like an engine
And I can go all night

Well, I can go all night, friends
I can go all night

I can go until the night ends
I can go all night

[electric guitar solo]

I got a weight on my shoulder
It’s like the size of this town
I got a head full of garbage
It’s been bringing me down
I had a band up in Boston
Everybody’s doing great
Everybody’s doing great
I got a job at Guitar Center
I f**ing hate this place*

Brian Dunne: Come on!

But I can go all night, friends
I can go all night, friends
I got a heart like an engine
And I can go all night

Well, I can go all night, friends
I can go all night

I can go until the night ends
I can go all night

Well, I can go all night, friends
I can go all night

I can go until the night ends
I can go all night

[electric guitar crescendo]

[audience applauding and cheering]

Yes!

Thank you so much for being here tonight. This means the world to us. It’s so incredible that we can come to a place like Appleton, Wisconsin, and have this many people here. We’d never been here before last year. This is so incredible, we love it here. We’ll be back. [audience applauding and cheering]

Don DiLego: And you remember that notch we just took it up to because of Brian’s instructions? One more notch higher!

Brian Dunne: One more notch!

[“Oh Man!” by Fantastic Cat]

One, two, three, four!

[upbeat rock music]

Sonny wrote a check that he knew he couldn’t pay
So he gathered up his s** and he headed for L.A.
He only had a gas, oh, to get him halfway
Now he lives in Indiana*

Oh man, oh man
We’re just doing the best we can
Oh man, oh man
We’re all doing the best that we can

Jackie had a job working seven nights a week
At a fancy restaurant where the mayor used to eat
Now she’s making twice as much selling pictures of her feet
To strangers on the Internet

Oh man, oh man
We’re just doing the best we can
Oh man, oh man
We’re all doing the best that we can

Ah, stand back now!

[electric guitar solo]

Katie bought a gun, yeah, to keep herself safe
Thought her neighbor was a thief
Pulled the trigger by mistake
Now she’s living in a cage out at Chuckawalla State
Thinking, “What was I so scared of?”

Oh man, oh man

Oh man, oh man

So if the universe is expanding

Ah, ah, ah

Why’s my rent still going up?

Ahh

Wahh

Oh man, oh man
We’re just doing the best we can
Oh man, oh man
We’re all doing the best that we can
Oh, sing that
Oh man, oh man
Oh man, oh man
Sometimes the best-laid plans
Oh man, oh man
Oh man, oh man
We’re all doing the best that we can
Two and three and whoo

[upbeat rock music]

[audience applauding and cheering]

Don DiLego: Thank you guys very much, we are Fantastic Cat. We love Mile of Music, thank you guys for hanging out.

[“Goodnight My Darling” by Fantastic Cat]

[steady rock music]

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Goodnight, my darling
Goodnight, my sweetheart
I’ll count my blessings
‘Til the day when we part

Don’t try to love me
Don’t try to save me
For I will break your heart
And, no, I don’t know why

There is a road
There is a road
Where we’ll grow old
Where we’ll grow old
I felt those dust trails
I felt the dust trails
Slide down my throat
Slide down my throat

So I’ve warned those sailors
To keep steadier anchors
You’ll find your new love
And be swept away

Goodnight, my darling
Goodnight, my sweetheart
I’ll count my blessings
‘Til day when we part

So don’t try to love me
Don’t try to play me
For I will break your heart
And, no, I don’t know why

Whoo

[electric guitar solo]

I am my father
I am my father
He was not wrong man
He was not wrong man
He was no savior
He was no savior
He was no madman
He was no madman

He never warned me
Love ain’t no guarantee
So find your new love
And then you’ll see

Goodnight, my darling
Goodnight, my sweetheart
I’ll count my blessings
‘Cause there ain’t no bad start

Don’t try to love me
Don’t try to save me
For I will break your heart
And, no, I don’t know why

For I will break your heart
And, no, I don’t know why

[rapid guitar strumming]

Don DiLego: Thank you guys very much, we are Fantastic Cat! Give it up, let’s see your hands! All the way back there!

I wanna introduce to you a man who we in the band call “Wonder Bread,” but you can call him the white John Mayer, Brian Dunne.

“The Appleton Shopper’s Guide” calls him the fourth most– fifth or fourth? Fourth most promising drummer in Fantastic Cat, Mike Montali!

He gives Charles Manson a good name, Anthony D’Amato!

The wisest and youngest member of the band, that’s me, Don DiLego. Thank you guys very much!

[rapid guitar strumming]

Wait a minute, sorry, sorry, my mistake. I effed up there. Mike looked at me, sullen. He was sad, he was really sad. You guys probably saw it, but I had my back to him. He wanted to say something. I can tell he’s been wanting to say something for a while. And I feel like, since he’s got an audience, let’s let him speak his piece. So, Mike, you have the…

Mike Montali: Thank you, Don. You know, things have been real rough lately. I’ve been going through some hard times, and I just hope…

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

Woo oo oo oo

[steady rock music]

Whoo!

[rapid guitar strumming]

[“The Star-Spangled Banner”]

Thank you very much, we’re Fantastic Cat! Thank you so much! [audience applauding and cheering]

Don DiLego: Thank you, Appleton. [cheers and applause continue]