Blue skies, cold beer in hand, and a supremely sick spread of Sydney talent getting loose ‘n’ live… sounds like SWEATY PALMS. The one-day music festival returns after its sold-out, 2016 event (that saw Tired Lion, Kingswoord, Bootleg Rascal and more wild out at a jungle-themed affair). The 2017 event is set to descend on its new location of Proud Mary’s, Erina, this September – as Spring sets in, and Sydneysiders everywhere crawl out of hibernation, slowly letting the sun’s warmth slowly rosy up their cheeks, Sweaty Palms offers the ideal chance for music aficionados and day-rave revelers alike to limber up for the summer party season.

A perfect days’ entertainment lies on the cards as a heady mix of surf, psych, rap and punk acts will perform across multiple outdoor stages, before things take a turn for the dance-floor as the sun goes down, with first-class electronic acts and DJs keeping things alight deep into the night. Kingdom Sounds have gone large with this year’s line-up, bringing different music subcultures across Sydney together, for a diverse audience experience, where punters will get the chance to see rising local acts play alongside top tier international and Australian talent.

Headlining on the day will be rap titan ILLY, who is about Two Degrees off total domination right now – the multi-platinum, multi-chart topping, multi-ARIA award-nominated Australian talent comes to the Sweaty Palms stage very well-primed, off the back of his biggest Australian album tour to date. Illy brings a huge energy and earnestness to everything he does; his constant creative experimentation outside the bounds of traditional hip hop makes him the perfect flagbearer for a diversity-embracing event like Sweaty Palms – we can’t wait to party with Illy as he makes huge hits like Papercuts and Catch-22 come alive for us. 

Slack-rockers SKEGGS will be a line-up highlight: the Byron Bay shredders have established themselves as a force in an ever-growing Australian punk scene; and will unroll waves of their pure, unadulterated summery rock n roll upon Sweaty Palms revellers. OCEAN ALLEY (below) are the latest sure-things to emerge from the Sydney’s Northern Beaches – their Jimi Hendrix-inspired psych-rock/reggae sounds have made them firm favourites amongst fans, as they steadily amass a large and loyal fan base around the country – join the Ocean Alley cult at Sweaty Palms. Bringing their infectious energy to the ‘dance’ side of proceedings are bona fide bringers-of-the-bounce COSMO’S MIDNIGHT. Sydney’s favourite twins are maestros of the mix-n-match, purveyors of electronic beats clad with a solid R’n’B sensibility, with a tasteful house touch. They’ll perform fan favourites from their delicious Moments EP (Walk With Me, Snare) along glorious new material like Mind Of and History.

Chicago brat-rock crew THE ORWELLS (below) are set to slay Sweaty Palms with noise and hooks for days. With NME currently calling them “the best new live band in America”, we’re stoked to have these US stars bring their primal, rock’n’roll energy to Proud Mary’s. Having done high-profile tour supports f or the likes of Ice Cube, Run the Jewels and Earl Sweatshirt & Danny Brown, Ghana-born, Canberra-residing rapper CITIZEN KAY is one of the most charismatic young rappers on the new-wave rap scene, a widely-respected talent with a star that’s steadily on the rise. Kay’s music blends traditional hip-hop with the soothing sounds of soul, jazz, blues and rock, and his unique mashup of Kanye West, Mark Ronson & The Commodores is still talked about as one of the best-executed triple j Like A Versions of all time. Kay brings his full live show to Sweaty Palms.

From the North Coast of NSW, LOS SCALLYWAGGS will bring the chill to Sweaty Palms, with their Californian garage-punk influenced sounds, as will Central Coast five piece THE SEA GYPSIES bring a Beautiful Girls-esque rhymthic rock soulfulness to proceedings.  Tasmanian singer-songwriter MADDY JANE is currently in the midst of an extensive run of shows supporting the likes of Polish Club, Tash Sultana and Luca Brasi, the up-and-coming muso will be sure to impress audiences on the day with her beautiful voice and catchy indie pop-rock. As well as all the above, there’s a tonne more local Australian talent ready to rip up the stage where these guys came from – get there early to pack in the performances!
 
To match the day’s incredible soundtrack, Sweaty Palms have the visual side of things on lock, with art installations, and a live board art headed up by huge talent illustrator Struthless, who is behind the event’s rad official poster design this year.

Sweaty Palms comes to us courtesy of premier party lords Kingdom Sounds (who recently took on bookings for HOME the Venue, and The Crescent Amphitheatre), who are well known across Sydney for the diverse music experiences they’ve been dreaming up for the past several years. Said event organizer Steve Sewell: “Sweaty Palms is a representation of local underground culture, it’s about bringing together local makers, creators, riders and a community of like-minded individuals through a love of music.”

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