West Fest Has Announced First Wave Of Acts... & It's Pretty Great

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on May 8, 2017 5:42PM

Photo courtesy of West Fest

Summer street-festival season is all but upon us. The steady drip of lineup announcements continued on Monday with West Fest—one of the reliable standouts in the thicket—taking the lid off Wave One of this year's musical offerings.

The annual three-day, weekend street fest, in West Town/Ukrainian Village, takes over Chicago Ave, between Damen and Wood, from July 7 to 9. The full roster of acts will ultimately be "dozens" long, according to a release.

Here's hoping the TBA's reach the high standard of today's announced artists: funky post-punk icons ESG (they of the indomitable, oft-sampled "UFO" and other classics); cultishly adored Australian soul punk Royal Headache; indie-rock faves Woods and Cymbals Eat Guitars; and emergent one-to-watch Chicago rapper Femdot. On the DJ stage, Chicago house great Derrick Carter jumps out. Here's what we have so far:

Main Stage (programmed by Empty Bottle Presents):
ESG
Royal Headache
Har Mar Superstar
Woods
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Durand Jones
Femdot
School of Rock

DJ Stage:
Miles Maeda
Mark Farina
Derrick Carter

As usual, West Fest caters to the little ones and furry friends too, with fests-within-a-fest programming for kids and pets. Requested donation is $5, which in part benefit Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy and Mitchell Elementary School. The festival runs from 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday and noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.