There were three things that a majority of Washingtonians missed out on Friday night at the Black Cat: One was the Lorelei record release show, which was stellar. The second was a lesson in hutzpah from the likes of Lorelei singer and guitarist Matthew Dingee. Suffering from a bad case of the flu and on his fourth day without food, Dingee, along with bassist Stephen Gardner and drummer Davis White, played tracks from their latest, Enterprising Sidewalks. The third was a nice people-watching experience, as the upstairs room contained many big names from the D.C. music scene—-both off-stage (Ian MacKaye, Dan Searing, James Canty, and others) and on. The opener, Deathfix, featured Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Mark Cisneros (Medications), Rich Morel (who hosts the Blow Off DJ night with Bob Mould), and Devin Ocampo (Medications). Attendance may have been slight, but the thrill was huge.

See photos from both sets in the gallery.