In a hole-in-the-wall venue, on a night where most would either be home in bed or simply elsewhere scarfing cheap basic spirits, the attendees of this show were treated with the rockin’ sounds of three local boy bands.

It’s quite early on a brisk Thursday evening when the first set of kicks off, and consequently the venue is relatively quiet. The crowd seems to be mostly made up of the friends and family of the three bands performing tonight, but that does not deter Sundown Jury from delivering a wonderful, half-hour set. The four young lads, clad in plaid and paisley, take the stage, and a few moments later, the audience’s hearts. Lovers of Angus and Julia Stone or Vance Joy would be pleased - with beautiful, soulful vocals and melodic guitar, Sundown Jury creates the dreamy soundtrack to which you grab a loved one and flee your backwater hometown in search of a brighter future. The band isn’t very talkative throughout the set, but that works in their favour by giving them a very humble stage presence, despite the fact that by the end of the set it is apparent to all that these boys have the goods to go places.

Despite only being invited to play the show the day before its occurrence, The Strums trio take to the stage in friendly and comfortable air. With a rather charming yet nonsensical introduction from vocalist Jai Sparks, “We’re The Strums, and we’re going to blow your hair back,” the band delivers their first track for the evening, ‘Love Is A Pistol’, one of two songs of the set dedicated to the venue bartender, Zac. They have a really great punk rock/pop punk styling, loud and fast paced, and really easy to enjoy. Everything the band brought to the table is enjoyed - from the one-liners sheepishly spoken by band members in the intervals between songs; the language warning for track ‘Some Kind Of Norm’; and audience contribution during the chorus of the last song of the set, ‘Baby, I’m An Adolescent’. My favourite part was their group hug just before they left the stage. This band could work wonders with a larger audience, and hopefully one day they will, their sky-high energy would have been much better reciprocated.

The last and most coveted set of the evening belongs to The Vernons, another group of local boys just doing their thing, and earning due admiration for it. The crowd is thickening immensely, people are packed right to the front of the stage, others hang back to stand on various furniture; it’s obvious that this is the act people have paid to see. The Vernons’ tasty, funky take on blues influenced rock is absolutely incredible; the spectrum of tempo and instrumentation this band utilises makes them a band for everyone, on every occasion. The crowd is absolutely enthralled by them, and I am not sure if it is just the alcohol, or mutual love for the band that has everybody instantly becoming friends with one another, ecstatically singing and dancing all together in one great moving mass.

It seems as though the entire hour’s set list was one crowd favourite after another, brilliant songs including: 'Standing In Line', 'White Wine', 'To The Sky', 'She’s All Alone' and a fantastic cover of The Isley Brothers’ 'Shout' to tie things up, where right in the middle of their rendition, vocalist Jonny Nyst stops everything to have a sip of beer. This set had everything it needed to go through the roof, just as crowd-surfing Nyst almost did, and I will be on the lookout for any future shows The Vernons play in Brisbane.

- Gracie Murrell-Clark