Local Artists and Venues join forces to Rock the Vote

A collective of Chicago musicians, promoters and the city's top clubs and record stores have joined together to organize the Interchange Festival, a series of concerts intended to raise political awareness among the city's independent music community and its fans, register voters, and contribute money and volunteers to ongoing voter-registration efforts in the Chicago area. Kicking off the 5-day festival Wednesday night at the Hideout will be local post-rock heroes Tortoise along with up and coming Chicago MC, Diverse. This show will actually take place outside of the Hideout and will be an all-ages show. Tickets will not be pre-sold, but you will be asked to make a suggested donation at the gate. Other highlights include Andrew Bird and the Vandermark 5 Thursday night at Schuba's and Sage Francis headlining Saturday night at Metro. For all the specific dates, times and complete show line-ups, check out the Interchange Festival website at: www.interchange2004.org.