Fantastic Cat
with The Bones of J.R. Jones

Fantastic Cat returns to Asbury Park for a headline show at the Pony!

Hailed by Rolling Stone as “the supergroup you need to know,” Fantastic Cat released their debut, The Very Best of Fantastic Cat, in 2022. The collection earned the vocal-trading, instrument-swapping collective their national TV debut, sold out headline dates around the U.S. and Europe, a performance at the Sundance Film Festival, and a song in the Paramount+ series Tulsa King. In 2023, the velvet-suited four-piece teamed up with all-star producer Butch Walker for a 50th anniversary take on Band on the Run,” which reportedly prompted Paul McCartney to question his entire life’s work.

Individually, each member of Fantastic Cat boasts their own impressive resume along with appearances everywhere from the New York Times and the Tiny Desk to Bonnaroo and Cayamo. NPR said Anthony D’Amato “sings and writes in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen or Josh Ritter.” Paste declared Don DiLego’s latest album a “stunner.” Rolling Stone called Brian Dunne’s new record “the sleeper album of the year” and praised Mike Montali’s band, Hollis Brown, as “the soundtrack for a late-night drive through the American heartland.”

Where the band’s debut showcased the quartet as individual songwriters, their latest, Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat, finds the group writing collectively for the first time, leaning into their respective strengths to craft an alternately poignant and absurdist portrait of a modern world populated by disgraced heroes, disenchanted dreamers, and dead end jobs. The songs are at once hopeful and mordant, reckoning with a reality less shiny than it once seemed by refusing to succumb to the weight of disillusionment, and the performances are relentlessly buoyant to match, fueled by infectious hooks, lush harmonies, and gleefully unpredictable arrangements. Think CSNY if none of them were famous, or The Traveling Wilburys if none of them were famous, or the Eagles if they really didn’t get along.

“A wildly satisfying collection of folk-rock, country, Americana, and good old rock & roll…equal doses of Dylan and Springsteen,” says Rolling Stone

Door 7:00, Show 8:00 to 11:30
Tickets: $30 Adv  plus applicable surcharges/ $35 dos

SAMMY RAE & THE FRIENDS
with Sarah Gross

For as much as Sammy Rae & The Friends may be a band, this collective of dreamers and artists considers themselves a family first. That all-for-one and one-for-all camaraderie ignites their unforgettable and can’t-miss live shows, which serve as a catharsis for both the musicians and their fervent audience. Fronted by singer/songwriter Sammy Rae and honed through years of touring, the group is capable of flourishing in any spotlight thanks to its signature blend of palpable chemistry, deft virtuosity, and vocal fireworks.

Their sound, which has attracted new fans by the thousands in the past few years, is a unique mélange of Sammy’s influences: classic rock, folk and funk and sprinkled with soul and jazz. Rae has been building toward this moment since moving to NYC from Connecticut in her early 20s. Finding herself without a built-in peer group, she simply built it herself: the literal and proverbial Friends. When she started playing shows, she made sure the audience was part of the family too.

Everything that’s happened since, from the EPs The Good Life (2018) and Let’s Throw a Party (2021) to sold-out shows in major markets and secondary markets alike across North American and the UK & Europe, to high-profile festival sets around the world, including Bonnaroo’s main stage, Sound on Sound, Green River Fest and more, has been based on friends telling friends. This year, they’ll take it up a notch with appearances at All Things Go and Holland’s North Sea Jazz fest.

As they prepare for the release of their long-awaited debut full-length album in 2024, Sammy Rae & The Friends have come to represent more than just a band: they are a full-on movement being adopted with refreshingly diverse clientele.

Tickets: $40 in advance (plus applicable surcharges), $45 at the door

Splintered Sunlight
Grateful Dead Tribute

Tickets: $25 in advance (plus applicable surcharges), $30 at the door