Dispatch (band)
Encyclopedia
Dispatch is an American
indie
/roots
band. The band consists of Brad Corrigan
(vocals
, drum
s, guitar
, percussion
, and harmonica
), Pete Francis Heimbold
(vocals, bass
and guitar), and Chad Urmston
(vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion).
The band, which is based in the Boston
area, was originally active from 1996 until 2002. The members then announced a hiatus, which would ultimately last for almost a decade; during this period, the band came together for reunion concerts in Boston (2004), New York City
(2007) and Washington, D.C.
(2009). The hiatus ended in the beginning of 2011, when the band announced a national tour. In May of the same year, Dispatch released an EP containing six new songs, their first all-new release since 2000.
and Woodriver Bandits
merged into an all-acoustic band in the early 1990s as One Fell Swoop. They soon changed their name to Dispatch after a dispute with another band of the same name. Chad Urmston
, Brad Corrigan
, and Pete Heimbold, who were all attending Middlebury College
, comprised the band's lineup throughout their entire schooling. Their music drew upon several genres, such as acoustic
folk-rock, reggae
, and funk
. They did several concerts in their early years both in and around Middlebury, gaining a name for themselves at the college.
However, even with their Middlebury roots, Dispatch's first show was not near their home campus. They first performed at Cosmic Cantina in Durham
, North Carolina
, while on a trip to visit one of the band member's younger sister at Duke University
.
, Massachusetts
, area to continue the strong touring effort that would characterize their sound. Their live show progressed through the years to include extended jams, guest appearances, and mash ups of their songs with other popular artists' songs such as Sublime
. The musicianship was always on display at every show as each member of the band switched instruments throughout their set moving between guitar, bass and drums/percussion. Dispatch gained much recognition outside of New England
, without any help from a label, thanks to peer-to-peer file sharing
programs such as Napster
and LimeWire
, as well as word-of-mouth. During their rise to indie fame, they put out four studio albums, which progressed from acoustic albums to full band records with electric guitar. After the release of their last album, Who Are We Living For?
, they began to tour extensively nationwide. Tensions began to run high between the band members, and they announced an indefinite hiatus in 2002 after a performance on Craig Kilborn
's late-night talk show.
in Boston on July 31, 2004. "The Last Dispatch," as it was called, is said to be the largest concert in independent music history. The original prediction of the turnout was between 10,000 and 30,000. Fans flocked from Italy
, Portugal
, South Africa
, Spain
, Mexico
, New Zealand
and Australia
among others, making up an estimated total audience of 110,000. Corrigan told the fans near the end of the performance, "Somebody said, downstairs, that we were shooting for, I don't know, 20,000, 30,000 people would be considered a huge success. And um, we were kind of excited about the idea of trying to get enough of you guys in here that they'd start shutting down Storrow Drive. Well we got our wish. And we want to thank you guys for putting together one of the biggest audiences, I think, probably, in independent music history- 100,000 strong!" The performance was released as a three-disc set (two CD
s, one DVD
) later that year, entitled All Points Bulletin
, along with recordings from a warm-up show in Somerville
, Massachusetts. Special guest appearances at the Somerville performance included Craig Dreyer on saxophone
and Brian Sayers on drums
. For some of their songs at the Hatch Shell, Dispatch shared the stage with Phil Keaggy
(guitar
), Paul Tillotson (keyboard
), Brian Sayers (drum kit
), and Reinaldo DeJesus (percussion
).
Dispatch then released a documentary film
The Last Dispatch
(2005) which chronicles their final twelve days together as a band and tells the story of how they became "the band that redefined independent music history". The film was released and previewed in Somerville, at the same theater they used for the Last Dispatch warm-up shows. Urmston, Corrigan, and Heimbold attended the showing and celebrated throughout the weekend with their fans. The film was released on DVD September 26, 2006.
, while Corrigan (now credited as Braddigan, a nickname by which he was known since his time with Dispatch) and Heimbold (now credited as Pete Francis, Francis being his middle name) were pursuing solo efforts.
On January 5, 2007, the band announced a benefit concert entitled "Dispatch: Zimbabwe" which reunited the band on July 14, 2007, at Madison Square Garden
in New York City
, New York
. All of the money raised from ticket sales went directly to charities that are fighting disease, famine and social injustice; the vast majority of the funds went to charities in Zimbabwe
, though a portion was allocated to local charities that the band supports in the U.S. On January 10, during the first half hour of the exclusive presale, available to their MySpace friends only, the band announced that the show was "officially sold out." Dispatch quickly scheduled another show for Friday, July 13, 2007. This show sold out within 24 hours, resulting in the addition of yet another night: July 15, 2007. Tickets for this show went on sale January 20 at 9:00 AM on Ticketmaster
, which also sold out. The band held multiple charity-ticket auctions for the show through Ticketmaster that raised an additional $20,000+ for The Elias Fund.
Shortly after the announcement of the three Madison Square Garden shows, the band also announced a show at New York City nightclub
Webster Hall
July 11, 2007. Tickets to the show were available on Ticketmaster through online auction only between June 20 and July 2. The minimum bid for a pair of tickets was $100.
On the day of the concert on July 14, several charity and volunteer events were held in New York City relating to the concerts. Members of the band made appearances at the events, greeting fans and thanking them for coming. At the Madison Square Garden concerts, the band alternated full band performances on the venue's main stage and acoustic numbers on top of their iconic van, Wimpy, in the middle of the arena. They were joined on stage for some songs by various musicians such as the African Children's Choir
, Bongo Love (a group from Zimbabwe), and various horn and percussion players. The concert was also split into segments, divided by informational videos on the current state of famine, poverty, and AIDS in Zimbabwe.
Recordings of the concerts were made available in various forms. Hours after each show ended, official audio recordings were sold through SNOCAP
on MySpace
. A video stream of the July 14 concert in its entirety was also streamed from the band's MySpace for a week. In December 2007, a DVD directed by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Danny Clinch
, highlighting the weekend will be released in a Collector's Edition, along with a photo book. A regular edition was released on January 29, 2008, which included a DVD of the concert, an audio recording of the concert on CD, a booklet, as well as a dropcard to download additional tracks through a webpage.
Dispatch played an acoustic show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 2009 at the request of Morgan Tsvangirai
, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. This was another benefit show for Zimbabwe, and the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe was in attendance. The show sold out within ten minutes of going on sale.
which pointed to a pin on Morrison, Colorado, the home of Red Rocks Amphitheater, on Google Maps, suggesting that a reunion concert might be played there. Speculation turned to the idea of a possible tour when more QR codes were released on each of the five subsequent Mondays, pointing to pins on Chicago, Illinois; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; and Harrison, New Jersey.
At midnight on January 1, 2011, Dispatch officially announced that they would mount a reunion tour the following June, the locations and dates are listed below.
Additionally, the band announced that "a portion of all ticket proceeds will go towards education programs in local communities."
The Band also decided to join Dave Matthews Band
as well as several other prominent bands and performers on two stops of the DMB CARAVAN. They were slated to perform at Governors Island in New York, NY on Saturday, August 27 and the Gorge, in George, WA on Sunday, September 4. The second two days (Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28th) of the Governor's Island caravan stop were cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, and Dispatch agreed to play the rescheduled Caravan on Randall's Island, also in New York, NY. They agreed to two shows, on Friday, September 16th and Saturday, September 17th.
Throughout the rest of the winter, Dispatch released short clips of themselves rehearsing new songs, as well as photos of themselves in a studio, fueling suspicion that a new album or EP would accompany the tour.
On April 5, 2011, Dispatch released a short video via YouTube
confirming that they were in the process of recording a new album.
On Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Dispatch performed the song "Melon Bend" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to be released on their upcoming "Dispatch EP
".
On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Dispatch confirmed via their YouTube channel that their new EP would be released on May 17, 2011. Along with the news, Dispatch also released a sample of their song "Valentine," which appeared on the EP.
On May 17, 2011, Dispatch released their new EP. Within hours of its release, it shot to #2 in the iTunes albums chart.
, the nonprofit organization the Elias Fund
was formed. The Elias Fund looks to provide hope and opportunity to Zimbabwean youth through community development and education while empowering the American youth culture to embrace their global role and make it an active one.
, known as The Relief Project
, at Irving Plaza
in New York City. Along with several other performers, Corrigan invited Heimbold and State Radio to play. The three reunited very briefly, playing the song "Here We Go" as an encore. Corrigan stated there that he plans further Relief Project concerts featuring all three.
, flamenco
, funk
, ska
, folk
, rock
, and rap
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
/roots
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
band. The band consists of Brad Corrigan
Brad Corrigan
Brad Corrigan is a musician who is a member of the indie band Dispatch, which reunited in 2011 after a several year hiatus...
(vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, drum
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
s, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
), Pete Francis Heimbold
Pete Francis Heimbold
Pete Francis Heimbold is a solo musical artist formerly of the bands Dispatch, Woodriver Bandits and Hermit Thrush. He plays guitar, bass, and is a singer/song-writer. Francis pursued a successful musical career with the independent band Dispatch for eight years, until their breakup in 2002, and...
(vocals, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and guitar), and Chad Urmston
Chad Urmston
Chad Stokes Urmston is an American musician. Urmston was a member of the band Hermit Thrush which later gave birth to the band Dispatch. He is the frontman for the Sherborn, Massachusetts-area band State Radio, as well as a constant activist for improved living conditions in Zimbabwe...
(vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion).
The band, which is based in the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area, was originally active from 1996 until 2002. The members then announced a hiatus, which would ultimately last for almost a decade; during this period, the band came together for reunion concerts in Boston (2004), New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(2007) and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(2009). The hiatus ended in the beginning of 2011, when the band announced a national tour. In May of the same year, Dispatch released an EP containing six new songs, their first all-new release since 2000.
Early years
Hermit ThrushHermit Thrush (band)
Hermit Thrush was an American indie rock band started by Pete Heimbold and Chad Urmston in 1995 while they were students at Middlebury College. The band was only active for a short time when they joined forces with Brad Corrigan of Woodriver Bandits to create One Fell Swoop...
and Woodriver Bandits
Woodriver bandits
Woodriver Bandits was founded in the year 1993 as a project of Brad Corrigan, who was a student at the Middlebury College in Vermont. After Tape 1993 was recorded Brad was informed by a friend that someone at his school played guitar very well and suggested he meet Pete Heimbold...
merged into an all-acoustic band in the early 1990s as One Fell Swoop. They soon changed their name to Dispatch after a dispute with another band of the same name. Chad Urmston
Chad Urmston
Chad Stokes Urmston is an American musician. Urmston was a member of the band Hermit Thrush which later gave birth to the band Dispatch. He is the frontman for the Sherborn, Massachusetts-area band State Radio, as well as a constant activist for improved living conditions in Zimbabwe...
, Brad Corrigan
Brad Corrigan
Brad Corrigan is a musician who is a member of the indie band Dispatch, which reunited in 2011 after a several year hiatus...
, and Pete Heimbold, who were all attending Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
, comprised the band's lineup throughout their entire schooling. Their music drew upon several genres, such as acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
folk-rock, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. They did several concerts in their early years both in and around Middlebury, gaining a name for themselves at the college.
However, even with their Middlebury roots, Dispatch's first show was not near their home campus. They first performed at Cosmic Cantina in Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, while on a trip to visit one of the band member's younger sister at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
.
Mid-1990s–2000s
After graduating from college the members of Dispatch relocated to the greater BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, area to continue the strong touring effort that would characterize their sound. Their live show progressed through the years to include extended jams, guest appearances, and mash ups of their songs with other popular artists' songs such as Sublime
Sublime (band)
Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
. The musicianship was always on display at every show as each member of the band switched instruments throughout their set moving between guitar, bass and drums/percussion. Dispatch gained much recognition outside of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, without any help from a label, thanks to peer-to-peer file sharing
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
programs such as Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
and LimeWire
LimeWire
LimeWire is a free peer-to-peer file sharing client program that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other operating systems supported by the Java software platform. LimeWire uses the gnutella network as well as the BitTorrent protocol. A free software version and a purchasable "enhanced"...
, as well as word-of-mouth. During their rise to indie fame, they put out four studio albums, which progressed from acoustic albums to full band records with electric guitar. After the release of their last album, Who Are We Living For?
Who Are We Living For?
Who Are We Living For? is a 2000 album by United States indie/roots folk band Dispatch. Their fourth studio album, it represented a major departure from past recordings. Unlike the first album, Silent Steeples, it is electric; unlike the second, Bang Bang, many of its songs express political messages...
, they began to tour extensively nationwide. Tensions began to run high between the band members, and they announced an indefinite hiatus in 2002 after a performance on Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn is an American actor and talk show host. He was the original host of The Daily Show, a former anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter, and Tom Snyder's successor on CBS' The Late Late Show. On June 28, 2010, he launched The Kilborn File after a six-year absence from television...
's late-night talk show.
Final concert
The band eventually scheduled a farewell concert to their fans, in order to get closure on the Dispatch portion of their lives. The free show was performed at the Hatch ShellHatch Shell
The Edward A. Hatch Memorial Shell is an outdoor concert venue adjacent to the Charles River Esplanade near downtown Boston....
in Boston on July 31, 2004. "The Last Dispatch," as it was called, is said to be the largest concert in independent music history. The original prediction of the turnout was between 10,000 and 30,000. Fans flocked from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
among others, making up an estimated total audience of 110,000. Corrigan told the fans near the end of the performance, "Somebody said, downstairs, that we were shooting for, I don't know, 20,000, 30,000 people would be considered a huge success. And um, we were kind of excited about the idea of trying to get enough of you guys in here that they'd start shutting down Storrow Drive. Well we got our wish. And we want to thank you guys for putting together one of the biggest audiences, I think, probably, in independent music history- 100,000 strong!" The performance was released as a three-disc set (two CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s, one DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
) later that year, entitled All Points Bulletin
All Points Bulletin (album)
All Points Bulletin is a 2004 live album by American indie/roots folk band Dispatch. Much like their previous live album Gut the Van, the album was released onto two discs...
, along with recordings from a warm-up show in Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, Massachusetts. Special guest appearances at the Somerville performance included Craig Dreyer on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and Brian Sayers on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. For some of their songs at the Hatch Shell, Dispatch shared the stage with Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy
Phil Keaggy is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Paul Tillotson (keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
), Brian Sayers (drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), and Reinaldo DeJesus (percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
).
Dispatch then released a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
The Last Dispatch
The Last Dispatch (Documentary)
The Last Dispatch is a documentary film by Helmut Schleppi overviewing and giving greater insight into the final days of the indie rock band Dispatch, which culminated with two final live concerts. The first concert took place at the Somerville Theatre to a very exclusive crowd. Two days later,...
(2005) which chronicles their final twelve days together as a band and tells the story of how they became "the band that redefined independent music history". The film was released and previewed in Somerville, at the same theater they used for the Last Dispatch warm-up shows. Urmston, Corrigan, and Heimbold attended the showing and celebrated throughout the weekend with their fans. The film was released on DVD September 26, 2006.
Post-breakup
All three of the band's members stayed in the music industry. Urmston is currently the front man of State RadioState Radio
State Radio is an alternative rock band from Sherborn, Massachusetts, consisting of Chad Urmston , Chuck Fay and Mike Najarian...
, while Corrigan (now credited as Braddigan, a nickname by which he was known since his time with Dispatch) and Heimbold (now credited as Pete Francis, Francis being his middle name) were pursuing solo efforts.
On January 5, 2007, the band announced a benefit concert entitled "Dispatch: Zimbabwe" which reunited the band on July 14, 2007, at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. All of the money raised from ticket sales went directly to charities that are fighting disease, famine and social injustice; the vast majority of the funds went to charities in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, though a portion was allocated to local charities that the band supports in the U.S. On January 10, during the first half hour of the exclusive presale, available to their MySpace friends only, the band announced that the show was "officially sold out." Dispatch quickly scheduled another show for Friday, July 13, 2007. This show sold out within 24 hours, resulting in the addition of yet another night: July 15, 2007. Tickets for this show went on sale January 20 at 9:00 AM on Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an independent American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment...
, which also sold out. The band held multiple charity-ticket auctions for the show through Ticketmaster that raised an additional $20,000+ for The Elias Fund.
Shortly after the announcement of the three Madison Square Garden shows, the band also announced a show at New York City nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
Webster Hall
Webster Hall
Webster Hall is a nightclub located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1886, its current incarnation was opened by the Ballinger Brothers in 1992...
July 11, 2007. Tickets to the show were available on Ticketmaster through online auction only between June 20 and July 2. The minimum bid for a pair of tickets was $100.
On the day of the concert on July 14, several charity and volunteer events were held in New York City relating to the concerts. Members of the band made appearances at the events, greeting fans and thanking them for coming. At the Madison Square Garden concerts, the band alternated full band performances on the venue's main stage and acoustic numbers on top of their iconic van, Wimpy, in the middle of the arena. They were joined on stage for some songs by various musicians such as the African Children's Choir
African Children's Choir
The African Children's Choir is a large choir made up of children ages 7 to 12 from several African nations. Since its inception, the choir has included children from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana...
, Bongo Love (a group from Zimbabwe), and various horn and percussion players. The concert was also split into segments, divided by informational videos on the current state of famine, poverty, and AIDS in Zimbabwe.
Recordings of the concerts were made available in various forms. Hours after each show ended, official audio recordings were sold through SNOCAP
SNOCAP
BackgroundThe company was founded by Shawn Fanning , Jordan Mendelson, and Ron Conway. Other SNOCAP employees included music lawyer Christian Castle, the company's first General Counsel, and Ali Aydar, the company's Chief Operating Officer, who joined imeem after its acquisition of SNOCAP in April...
on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. A video stream of the July 14 concert in its entirety was also streamed from the band's MySpace for a week. In December 2007, a DVD directed by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Danny Clinch
Danny Clinch
Danny Clinch is a photographer and film director who was born in Toms River, New Jersey in 1964. He graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982 and after attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England School of Photography, a two-year institution located in Boston, MA.Clinch...
, highlighting the weekend will be released in a Collector's Edition, along with a photo book. A regular edition was released on January 29, 2008, which included a DVD of the concert, an audio recording of the concert on CD, a booklet, as well as a dropcard to download additional tracks through a webpage.
Dispatch played an acoustic show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 2009 at the request of Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...
, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. This was another benefit show for Zimbabwe, and the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe was in attendance. The show sold out within ten minutes of going on sale.
Dispatch 2011
On November 15, 2010, the Dispatch website was updated with a countdown to the year 2011, with the words "Dispatch 2011" clearly visible in the top right, leading to speculation that one or more reunion concerts would be announced in the coming months. Further adding to speculations of a reunion, on November 22, 2010, Dispatch tweeted an image of a QR codeQR code
A QR code is a type of matrix barcode first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white...
which pointed to a pin on Morrison, Colorado, the home of Red Rocks Amphitheater, on Google Maps, suggesting that a reunion concert might be played there. Speculation turned to the idea of a possible tour when more QR codes were released on each of the five subsequent Mondays, pointing to pins on Chicago, Illinois; Berkeley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; and Harrison, New Jersey.
At midnight on January 1, 2011, Dispatch officially announced that they would mount a reunion tour the following June, the locations and dates are listed below.
- June 3-5: Morrison CO (Red Rocks)
- June 7: Chicago, IL (UIC Pavilion)
- June 8: Chicago, IL (Millenium Park)
- June 11: Berkeley, CA (Greek Theatre)
- June 12: Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre)
- June 17: New York, NY (Terminal 5)
- June 18: Harrison, NJ (Red Bull Arena)
- June 21: Atlanta, GA (Chastain Park)
- June 24-26: Boston, MA (TD Garden)
Additionally, the band announced that "a portion of all ticket proceeds will go towards education programs in local communities."
The Band also decided to join Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
as well as several other prominent bands and performers on two stops of the DMB CARAVAN. They were slated to perform at Governors Island in New York, NY on Saturday, August 27 and the Gorge, in George, WA on Sunday, September 4. The second two days (Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28th) of the Governor's Island caravan stop were cancelled due to Hurricane Irene, and Dispatch agreed to play the rescheduled Caravan on Randall's Island, also in New York, NY. They agreed to two shows, on Friday, September 16th and Saturday, September 17th.
Throughout the rest of the winter, Dispatch released short clips of themselves rehearsing new songs, as well as photos of themselves in a studio, fueling suspicion that a new album or EP would accompany the tour.
On April 5, 2011, Dispatch released a short video via YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
confirming that they were in the process of recording a new album.
On Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Dispatch performed the song "Melon Bend" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, to be released on their upcoming "Dispatch EP
Dispatch EP
Dispatch EP is an EP that was released by Dispatch on May 17, 2011. It is the band's first studio record in over ten years and will be followed by a full-length album in fall 2011 or early 2012. Upon its release, the EP shot to #2 on the iTunes album charts...
".
On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Dispatch confirmed via their YouTube channel that their new EP would be released on May 17, 2011. Along with the news, Dispatch also released a sample of their song "Valentine," which appeared on the EP.
On May 17, 2011, Dispatch released their new EP. Within hours of its release, it shot to #2 in the iTunes albums chart.
Elias Fund
After the song "Elias" was written by Chad Urmston about his experience living and teaching in ZimbabweZimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, the nonprofit organization the Elias Fund
Elias Fund
The Elias Fund is a nonprofit organization funding community development and education for Zimbabwean youth.-Overview:The Elias Fund began with a simple purpose - help one man raise his children. Today EF empowers Zimbabwean communities to build a promising future for their children through poverty...
was formed. The Elias Fund looks to provide hope and opportunity to Zimbabwean youth through community development and education while empowering the American youth culture to embrace their global role and make it an active one.
The Relief Project
On December 22, 2005, Corrigan helped to organize a benefit concertBenefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
, known as The Relief Project
The Relief Project
The Relief Project is an organization of musicians who want to deliver aid to communities in need.Brad Corrigan, a member of Dispatch, and Jon-Erik Borgen a member of J.E. Borgen, established The Relief Project. The initial goal of the project was to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and other...
, at Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in New York City. Along with several other performers, Corrigan invited Heimbold and State Radio to play. The three reunited very briefly, playing the song "Here We Go" as an encore. Corrigan stated there that he plans further Relief Project concerts featuring all three.
Studio albums
- 1996: Silent SteeplesSilent SteeplesSilent Steeples is a 1996 album by American indie/roots folk band Dispatch. Unlike their future releases, the album contained mostly acoustic folk rock songs.-Track listing:#"Steeples" #"Past the Falls" #"Water Stop"...
- Bomber, Foundations, Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:... - 1998: Bang Bang - Bomber, Foundations, Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
- 1999: Four-Day TrialsFour-Day TrialsFour-Day Trials is a 1999 album by American indie/roots folk band Dispatch. The album was their third studio release. The tracks "Here We Go" and "Mission" are re-recordings of tracks from Dispatch's second album, Bang Bang.-Track listing:...
- Bomber, Foundations, Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:... - 2000: Who Are We Living For?Who Are We Living For?Who Are We Living For? is a 2000 album by United States indie/roots folk band Dispatch. Their fourth studio album, it represented a major departure from past recordings. Unlike the first album, Silent Steeples, it is electric; unlike the second, Bang Bang, many of its songs express political messages...
- Bomber, Foundations, Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
Live albums
- 2001: Gut the VanGut the VanGut the Van is a live album released in 2001 by Dispatch, an American indie/roots folk band. The set consists of two CDs, , and are named after vans that the band used to tour the country.-Disc 1: "Peg":Track details from liner notes....
- DCNDCNDCNS is a naval defence company based in France and is one of Europe's leading shipbuilders....
, Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:... - 2004: All Points BulletinAll Points Bulletin (album)All Points Bulletin is a 2004 live album by American indie/roots folk band Dispatch. Much like their previous live album Gut the Van, the album was released onto two discs...
- 2007: ZimbabweZimbabwe (album)Zimbabwe is a 2007 live album by American indie/roots folk band Dispatch. The album was recorded in Madison Square Garden in front of a sellout crowd.-Track listing:13.07.07# Here We Go# Passerby# Bats In The Belfry# Cover This# Lightning...
DVDs
- 2002: Under the RadarUnder the Radar (Dispatch album)Under the Radar is a 2002 documentary DVD of the band Dispatch. It also includes a bonus CD entitled "Patchwork", which includes remixes of Dispatch songs and audio recordings of some of the performances on the DVD.-DVD:#Intro#"Cover This"#Napster...
- DCNDCNDCNS is a naval defence company based in France and is one of Europe's leading shipbuilders....
, Universal RecordsUniversal RecordsUniversal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:... - 2005: The Last DispatchThe Last Dispatch (Documentary)The Last Dispatch is a documentary film by Helmut Schleppi overviewing and giving greater insight into the final days of the indie rock band Dispatch, which culminated with two final live concerts. The first concert took place at the Somerville Theatre to a very exclusive crowd. Two days later,...
- Fabrication Films - 2007: Dispatch: ZimbabweDispatch: ZimbabweDispatch:Zimbabwe is a live DVD recording by American indie rock band Dispatch, recorded July 14 and 15, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in New York...
- Live at Madison Square Garden
Compilation albums
- 2005: The Relief Project: Vol. I by various artists (as part of The Relief ProjectThe Relief ProjectThe Relief Project is an organization of musicians who want to deliver aid to communities in need.Brad Corrigan, a member of Dispatch, and Jon-Erik Borgen a member of J.E. Borgen, established The Relief Project. The initial goal of the project was to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and other...
)
Genre
Dispatch experiments with a variety of genres, and thus is known as a very difficult band to categorize. Different styles and idioms employed by the band include reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
.
Band members
- Chad "Chetro" UrmstonChad UrmstonChad Stokes Urmston is an American musician. Urmston was a member of the band Hermit Thrush which later gave birth to the band Dispatch. He is the frontman for the Sherborn, Massachusetts-area band State Radio, as well as a constant activist for improved living conditions in Zimbabwe...
- Instruments: vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, and pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Instruments: vocals
- Brad "Braddigan" CorriganBrad CorriganBrad Corrigan is a musician who is a member of the indie band Dispatch, which reunited in 2011 after a several year hiatus...
- Instruments: Vocals, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
- Instruments: Vocals, drums
- Pete "Repete" Francis Heimbold
- Instruments: Vocals, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Instruments: Vocals, bass
External links
- Dispatch
- Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden DVD
- Dispatch collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music collection