The 9:30 and the DAM! Festival didn’t do much to highlight the fact that the club’s opening act last night was Childballads, the latest project from St. Albans grad Stewart Lupton, who fronted Jonathan Fire*Eater before the rest of the dudes went on to become the Walkmen. For those of us with only a cursory knowledge of Lupton’s career, there was only one tip-off: He did a shambolic version of “No Love Like That,” which is probably the catchiest tune from JFE’s 1997 album Wolf Songs for Lambs. Otherwise, I would’ve been like, “Who was that guy?”

Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues was the headliner, duh. The clean-and-sober Chan Marshall had a scratchy throat; she ate lemon wedges after a few songs; she and the band sounded good anyway. Best moment of supportive heckling from the crowd: I think a dude in the balcony yelled “Thank you for quitting!”