Dispatch is playing a free concert in Boston tonight
The local band is holding an open “practice session” before their European tour
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When the Boston-based, indie/roots rock band Dispatch played their farewell show at the Hatch Shell in 2004, the crowd grew so large that police had to shut Storrow Drive down. With an estimated 110,000 people in attendance, the concert—dubbed “The Last Dispatch”—made its mark on the Charles.
Monday night, the band will play a free show at a venue that holds just over 400.
Dispatch announced on their Facebook page that they would be holding a “pre-tour practice session” at Brighton Music Hall Monday night, in advance of their European tour.
https://www.facebook.com/dispatch/posts/10154180711636203
“We’ll be running through the Europe set and would love to try out some new songs on some Boston ears,” the band wrote. “It’s free, all ages, doors open at 7 and we’ll play from about 8-9:30PM. Capacity is limited so get there early. See you tomorrow!”
Despite never signing to a label, Dispatch grew in popularity during their original run as a band from 1996 to 2002 through word-of-mouth and early file-sharing programs like Napster. Founded at Middlebury College in Vermont, the trio of Chad Urmston, Pete Heimbold, and Brad Corrigan inspired a cult-like following similar to Phish or the Dave Matthews Band, selling out Madison Square Garden as recently as last summer.
The group has reformed and broken up several times since its inception and had its share of big moments, but the 2004 Hatch Shell show remains a standout—videos of the band’s almost four-hour uninterrupted performance have hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, and the concert was the subject of a 2005 documentary, titled The Last Dispatch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15DfKJMByM8
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