Live Review: I Love Life

Promoted and curated by The Smith Street Band, I Love Life festival returned for its second year with a ripper line-up that hit Brisbane and Sydney (and everywhere else with altered line-ups and different aliases), promising a damn good time.

Thankfully, they delivered on that promise, with San Francisco's Creative Adult one of the first bands off the bat. Perhaps a bit aggressive for a late afternoon slot, and with a lack of clarity in sound, they didn't really pique the interest of the crowd who only gave them a few weak head nods.

Running ahead of time - a rarity for a music festival - punk rockers Cayetana took to the stage to show us how punk rock is done. Hailing from Philly, lead vocalist and guitarist Augusta Koch was so brash you could feel the agony and power ooze out of her every word. They primarily let their songs do the talking, but did dedicate Madame B to all strong women and Georgia Maq from Camp Cope in particular. Hot Dad Calendar closed out their empowering set.

"I'm trying not to freak out," sang Adelaide duo The Hard Aches, drawing a crowd and injecting some Aussie rock into this so-far American affair. Loser got a crowd singalong, but it didn't quite compare to the response that newbie Glad That You're Gone received, emerging a clear crowd favourite. Promising to dig up some oldies, St Helens proved to tug at the heartstrings, while everyone enjoying singing "when I get fucked up" a little too much during I Get Like This — the perfect end to their set.

Camp Cope have been making waves since the release of their self-titled debut and that was immediately evident when cheers and a chorus of voices sang the words to opener Done right back at Maq. She seemed taken back with the response and a little nervous; not quite able to face us as she took in just how many people were here to see them play. Their music is cathartic, empathic and empowering all at once and, although shy, Maq possesses a magnetism that you can't pull yourself away from. Balancing out this emotion, Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams uses a little deadpan humour, while Lost (Season One) arguably got the biggest crowd response of the evening. These strong women are only going up from here.

American indie-rockers Rozwell Kid didn't quite get the response they were after, however we're not sure if it's because no one really knew them or because the sound during their set was actually dreadful. Regardless, they seemed to be having a good time, telling us they'd had "a really sick day" in Sydney during their first time here. Craig Selak, the bassist from The Bennies, joined them on stage to sing, with the audience warming to them in the end.

Unfortunately for Pity Sex, lead singer Britty Drake is no longer in the band. This has left a massive vocal hole to fill in their performance, which is being now filled out by guitarist Brennan Greaves. I'll give it to him, he's not doing a bad job, but it's just not the same. Drown Me Out, Sedated and a cover of There She Goes by The La's proved popular and garnered a few singalongs. Greaves couldn't resist getting in the pit for the final song.

Karina Utomo from High Tension is fucking mental. Forget the rest of the band, but damn you couldn't rip your eyes away from her, even if you didn't fancy their ear-splitting hardcore. From clean vocals to guttural screams, Utomo commanded our attention - we weren't sure if we wanted to love her or be her. Crouching and screaming in people's faces, jumping into the pit and crowd-surfing, Utomo and the band burst our eardrums in the most entertaining way possible.

Even before The Bennies came on, people were calling for Melbourne's notorious party-starters. Walking on to some dubbed, psychedelic tunes, The Bennies wanted to "tear this place apart". Heavy Disco kicked off and the moshpit got fucking rowdy. There was no shortage of energy from the band or crowd as The Bennies launched into Detroit Rock Ciggies and, of course, their ode to marijuana, Let's Go Get Stoned. A trombonist called Dougie added to the good time and was a great addition. Inevitably, Party Machine went off and the band ended their set and the festival with a bang.