The reason the Black Cat show was somewhat empty was because a lot of people thought they had no chance of getting free tickets. That was back in March of 2007. My friends and I went and had a blast. They even played me a few older songs of theirs. The whole situation with the free show to me was almost a strange psychology experiment. A lot of people didn't come out because they thought they had no chance. I'm glad I went because it felt like one of their shows from back in the days before they became huge.
ps- I really wish I could've seen the boys either at Sonar or at the 9:30 club, but unfortunately, I had a family emergency that prevented me from attending.