Kitted out in fine retro style, Drawn from Bees where up first on the evenings bill. Opening their set with the rhythmically potent “All This Time”, the bands Keyboardist Raven Jones, and guest performer Phil Usher each thumped their away throughout the songs intro on a pair of floor toms. This made for an attention-grabbing start, and laid a nice foundation for the rest of their set.

The band’s newest release “The Boy and The Ocean”, offers not just one, but a number of single worthy tracks. This makes for a live performance that is appealing throughout. The bands most radio friendly song “Picture show” sports an accompanying whistle delivered by the bands frontman Dan James. Be warned as this whistled melody is dangerously catchy, and could lead to the mental devise of those closest to you. Drawn From Bees gave a well rounded performance, and showed that they are still in the game despite missing out on a place to play V Festival at the recently held Garage 2V competition.

Next to stage were The Middle East, who played this venue only just last month when they toured the nation in support of the “Spunk Single Club” compilation. This reviewer covered that Gig, and very little comparison could be drawn between the two performances. The Middle East are a true rarity, not only because they can make music that is genuinely heart felt and soulful, but have proved that they can perform with passion time and time again. Already gaining support from Triple J and various other radio stations, it would come as no surprise if this band were to be found on festival line ups in the near future. There set consisted of similar structure to their last Troubadour performance, working through tracks found on their current Album, and finishing with their single “Blood”.

For the headliners The Devoted Few, this was the Brisbane leg of their album launching tour. Mixing 90’s synth sounds with relatively straightforward guitar rock progressions, the material found on their new album “Baby, You’re a Vampire” is simple, but translates well to a live environment.

As their set ran through, most spectators appeared somewhat detached in spite of a tight and energetic performance. The single “Trigger Finger” proved as expected to be a crowd pleaser, managing to stoke a little dancing out of a mostly stationary audience. It seemed that punters weren’t really sold on what The Devoted Few had to offer, maybe it just wasn’t their night.

A few voices were heard requesting an encore, and despite a relatively uncommitted audience, it was played. At first it felt a little automatic and unnecessary, but none the less was worth sticking around for.