Dispatch

“I always love when someone says, ‘Oh, I’ve never heard of Dispatch,’” band manager Steve Bursky told Pollstar. “It makes me laugh a little bit.”

Obviously, somebody has heard of Dispatch. When the trio went on indefinite hiatus in 2004, their farewell show drew 110,000 fans to a bandshell in Boston. When they announced a reunion at Madison Square Garden in 2007, they drew enough people from around the world to fill up the NYC venue three nights in a row.

Now they’re doing a reunion tour. And the summer jaunt is the 9,450-capacity Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver (promoted by AEG Live), the 11,000-capacity Millennium Park in Chicago (Jam), the 8,500-capacity Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Calif. (Another Planet), the 6,900-capacity Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta and the 19,580-capacity TD Garden in Boston (Live Nation).

Oh, and they’ll be the first band playing the 25,000-capacity Red Bull Arena near New York, which will be promoted by Bowery Presents.

“This band never really got the respect it deserved from the business,” Bursky said. “I can’t wait for people’s response, which will come at the onsale.”

Dispatch, composed of Chad Urmston, Pete Heimbold and Brad Corrigan, formed at Middlebury College in Vermont in the early ’90s. They did fairly well with their jam-based grooves but did a lot better when Napster gave them a worldwide fan base, one the traditional recording business didn’t even know existed. And, to this day, that fan base is faithful and preparing for the onsale through Twitter and Facebook.

“We built this tour very specifically to hit every region of the country,” Bursky said. “We envision the West Coast flocking to the Greek, the Mountain region going to Red Rocks and the Midwest going to Millenium Park.”

Dispatch took their hiatus because they felt the growth of the band was a distraction from their love of making music, Bursky said. Does that mean they’re back for good? When it comes to this tour, it’s open-ended.

“They’re in the studio and making new music. This isn’t just a one-off,” Bursky said. “Is it a plan for them to be an active touring band again? No. But is the door open to a future? Yes. It will be determined by how the guys feel after this summer.”

Madison Square Garden, three nights, 2007: 55,183 tickets, $2,179,729 gross.