Headed to Chicago’s West Fest this weekend?

Well here’s a little mix we threw together of the main stage West Fest artists for you to jam on until things kick off tomorrow at noon on Chicago Ave between Damen and Wood. Check it:

Last Friday night Four Tet hypnotized a sold out crowd at the Empty Bottle with 10 minute long trance influenced tracks like “Love Cry”. Check out this exclusive footage from the show produced by Chicago’s very own Video Fingers.

Three reasons to check out Phantogram tonight at Schubas (other than half price mac n cheese)…

1. The Saratoga Springs, NY duo of Joshua Carter and Sarah Barthel create psychedelic melodies layered with synth, samples and hip hop beats that only get more entrancing when either of their vocals slide into the mix.

2. You love The Antlers, and The Antlers really love them.

“We really love this band: @Phantogram. Check them out if you haven’t heard of them http://www.myspace.com/phantogram sooo awesome…” – The Antlers on Twitter

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Photo Credit: Josh Reed

Three reasons to see Hammer No More The Fingers at Quenchers Saloon tonight:

1. Heavily influenced by early 90′s indie rock, this power trio was recently included in Spin.com’s 25 Must-Hear Artists from the CMJ Festival.

2. Quenchers has free wi-fi and popcorn, a vintage photo booth, and best of all an impressive beer list of over 300 varieties.

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After months of waiting to hear when Lincoln Hall would finally open its doors to eager music fans, lincolnhallchicago.com launched yesterday with a schedule of acts spanning the next several months.

As of today the first show will be an October 16th performance by Mike Doughty, followed by New Zealand singer-songwriter Liam Finn on the 17th and electropop duo La Roux on the 21st.

UPDATE: Lincoln Hall announced yesterday that the “Lincoln Hall Grand Opening Event” will be held Oct. 25 featuring performances from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and locals The Jai-Alai Savant. The show starts at 8 p.m. and is 18+. Tickets go on sale at noon tomorrow, Oct. 16, at LincolnHallChicago.com.

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Three reasons to see Sea Wolf at Schubas tonight…

1. You’ll go home and dust off the acoustic guitar because Alex Brown Church makes good, intelligent songwriting seem just that simple.

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Another group of bands have been added to the already impressive Pitchfork Music Festival with the potential to seal the deal for anyone still debating whether or not to spend the majority of July 17-19th in Union Park. At this point I can’t understand how anyone would be undecided, but maybe they’re holding out to see which Jam band is opening for Rusted Root at the Sheffield Garden Walk Festival the same weekend.

“Newly added bands as of right this moment: Art-rock exhibitionists Yeasayer, rootsy dudes Blitzen Trapper, epic Danes Mew, Vancouver fuzz buckets Japandroids, Montreal folkies Plants and Animals, wiry post-rockers Disappears, and an indie rock band made by men called Women.”

Getting another chance to see Blitzen Trapper after missing their sold out Empty Bottle show is great. Yeasayer is even better, just check out “Tightrope” (from the Dark Was The Night Compilation) and watch their entrancing Take Away Show performance (after the jump).

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