Live Review: Milk! Records Good For You Tour

In 2012 Courtney Barnett self-released her EP on a label she dubbed Milk! Records (legend has it she scribbled a logo on the back of her record with a sharpie). Four years later, Barnett is internationally acclaimed and Milk! is no longer just a doodle. Barnett's label has a roster and a compilation record, Good For You.

This final fact is important, Barnett's name may have been at the top of the line-up, but this was Milk!'s day. No set times were released for the five-band line-up and for three hours in the afternoon sun, faces came, went and reappeared in new configurations — Barnett herself was often on stage, offering backup vocals or guitar.

With the charred smell of coal-roasted pork in the air and tinnies in hand, it felt less like a pub gig than an afternoon barbie at your mate's house (your very talented other mates decided to have some fun together and put on a little performance).

Ouch My Face pulled out a super tight set of loud, cheeky and inventive punk. Celeste Potter on vocals is a force. Alternately snarling like a woodland creature and shrieking like an upset child, the weirdness Potter channels layers perfectly over-focused, sharp guitar riffs.

Jen Cloher's standout set started with slow, churning sounds and by the end it had reached a high energy frenzy, driven mostly by Cloher's commitment and pathos. Cloher is an incredible performer; she is charismatic, hugely expressive and at home on stage.

Courtney Barnett's closing set didn't feel like the moment the crowd had been waiting for, which was a testament to just how much fun and friendship was happening on stage. That's not to say her set wasn't good; Barnett's set did her music justice, but it's clear that headlining — or even being the stage's focal point — is not something she wants. To wrap up the afternoon, all of Milk! joined Barnett on stage for loose covers of David Bowie's Suffragette City and Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl.