Dispatch

After forming in Middlebury, Vermont in the late 1990s, indie band Dispatch moved to Boston following their graduation from college. The band were skilled manipulators of social media and steadily expanded their following using peer to peer file sharing platforms such as Napster and Limewire.

The band members are multi-instrumentalists and their live shows often involve the three core members swapping between instruments. During their early years the band were primarily an acoustic act but by the time they released 'Who Are We Living For?', which was to be the final album prior to their break-up, Dispatch had developed into an electric band. The split came about due to tensions developing within the group and they scheduled a free farewell show in Boston. An audience of 10,000 fans was expected to show up for the gig but according to the band's website fans flocked to the gig from all over the world and they estimate the turnout was in excess of 160,000. The band released a documentary of the build up to the gig titled' The Last Dispatch' in which they claim to be "the band that redefined independent music history". The band have since reformed and performed a number of high profile charity concerts in aid of relief projects in Zimbabwe.