Excitement mounted quickly for buzz band Parquet Courts‘ first visit to D.C., but that excitement was tinged with a bit of skepticism. While their debut Light Up Gold, which tastemaking indie label What’s Your Rupture? released earlier this year, had provided a cause for joy among rock fans, a handful of those same fans had shown up in a basement in Northwest D.C. roughly a month prior to see Parquet Courts…only to find out that they had not left their previous destination on time to make the show.

While this was almost certainly the error of a green band underestimating travel time, when such a band also has a song called “Stoned and Starving” as a centerpiece of their album, this can also somewhat cement a slacker reputation. As such, the prevailing commentary before the show was that Parquet Courts would headline the best show of the winter…if they showed up.

And they did—not just physically, but also mentally. The band faked out the crowd with low-key opener “Tears of Plenty” before barging into album opener “Master of My Craft,” at which point everyone up front lost their minds. The quartet occasionally slowed things down with songs like “She Is Rolling,” a loping dissonant jam that isn’t on Light Up Gold, but they mostly bopped almost straight through the album, which led to tossing of beer on the stage during former Song of the Day “Borrowed Time” and lots of frenzied dancing from the crowd.

But despite an airtight set wherein the quartet delivered on their bouncy material, Parquet Courts still did not completely shed their slacker image. Crowd members whispered unconfirmed rumors that they had blown off sound check. The band deadpanned amid their jokes that the Republican girls in the audience were “the real freaks” and that they had no CDs to sell. But they showed that being slackers did not equate to being jerks; they apologized to the members of the crowd who had shown up to the ill-fated house show and thanked them for returning. And perhaps most importantly, they didn’t short the audience on kinetic energy, ensuring that they’ll have a far different reputation upon their return.

Whether or not Parquet Courts fans have forgiven the band, they were at least treated to some great regional openers. We missed Foul Swoops’ set, which wasn’t hard considering that they finished up in roughly half of their allotted time (one audience-goer clocked their set at 16 minutes), but Baltimore’s Roomrunner (who was at the Black Cat for the second time in three weeks) gave rock fans a reason to be excited. They didn’t play many songs from last year’s excellent EP Super Vague, instead giving us a taste of their upcoming full-length album. The band has become increasingly tighter since playing the Black Cat Backstage last year, and while they still drown their sound in feedback and Denny Bowen’s vocals are about as clear as Kurt Cobain’s were on “Territorial Pissings,” the hooks are more pronounced, making the experience more gratifying than a mere headbanger.