Dispatch

[Zimbabwe | MySpace (Photo Credit) | Official Site]

Tickets for a Dispatch reunion gig at - get ready - Madison Square Garden will go onsale at 12:00 EST today (ticket info, presale password here in Bulletin and Blog). This only five days after the benefit for Zimbabwe news was released.

Now some of you might ask one of any number of things: who the fuck is Dispatch? do they really intend on selling out The Garden? or when is Britney going to put some fucking undergarments? I can't help with number three, but I can lend some information on the first two.

Judging from my Ben Harper/early Dave Matthews (at least I fucking admit it) roots when it came to seeing artists live in my youth, it is only natural that at some point Dispatch's Bang Bang hit my headspace in college. I still believe that it is a fantastic album from top to bottom, and find myself letting it spin whenever I am in the mood. It came from a group of guys that coalesced in Middlebury, Vermont under early names like One Fell Swoop and The Longfellow Frenzy. Without relying on a label - c'mon we had fucking Napster back then - Dispatch soon established a respectable following outside of New England with their jam-rock, acoustic, folk, reggae and funk fusion. Depending on your definition of respectable you will be surprised to know that, in July of 2004, Dispatch took the estimates of 10,000 to 30,000 fans for their final, farewell show and raised them 70,000.

Covered in the documentary film The Last Dispatch, the show, according to some, set the record for the largest show in independent music history (some estimates top 110,000 in attendance). It also had the BoPo spinning, the Hatch Shell bumping and probably more than a few fans leaving in tears. The show was later released a two-disc CD titled All Points Bulletin. And then they were gone. Solo careers were created and other bands were formed, notably (and locally) State Radio. Until now.

So, about that second question, my money's on this thing selling out - not at Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Spiceworld Tour speed - but, eventually, the Garden will be packed, blunts will be passed and a sing-along memory for a great cause will be born.

MP3: Dispatch - "The General"
MP3: Dispatch - "Two Coins"