The legions of fans who follow Dispatch know that a defining element of the band and its culture is its spirit of community and charity. Today the band announced that the centerpiece of its highly-anticipated summer concert tour will be “Amplifying Education,” an ambitious multi-platform campaign which aims to improve education in every market on the tour.
Joining with such respected organizations as Teach for America, City Year, United Way, Better World Books, HeadCount and others, Dispatch has assembled a team to ensure that the band and its fans have the greatest possible effect on improving education in the cities the summer tour visits. More information is available on a brand new website which launched Tuesday at www.AmplifyingEducation.org.
A portion of each ticket as well as the profits from the band’s June 17th club show at Terminal 5 in New York will go to support a variety of Amplifying Education programs. The campaign aims to make real, definitive educational improvements in each of the six cities Dispatch visits this summer. These programs include:
· Sponsorship of Teach For America corps members in each market and a City Year Denver founding team. Funds donated by the band from ticket proceeds will go to sponsor multiple Teach for America corps members in every market on the tour, with the exception of Denver, where the band has joined with City Year to establish operations for the first time. Teach For America’s mission is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation’s most promising future leaders in the effort. City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time national service, working in targeted schools to keep students in school and on track to graduate by focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance. Additional funds will help outfit the Waterside School’s new music room in Stamford, CT.
· Service projects in Denver, Chicago, Bay Area, Newark and Boston. In partnership with local education-focused non-profits, Amplifying Education will organize pre-show physical service projects for 20-40 volunteers at schools and community centers. These projects may include classroom, hallway and mural painting, landscaping, and playground builds. Fans will make a $20 donation to register for projects, which will go to help cover the cost of service supplies and an Amplifying Education t-shirt. Band members will make every effort to attend the projects or invite volunteers to a post-show meet and greet to thank fans for their efforts.
· Community Conversations. In partnership with United Way affiliates in Denver and Boston, Dispatch will host 90-minute, thought provoking conversations, educating attendees about schools, organizations and volunteers making a measurable impact for students. Dispatch will also play an acoustic set at these two events.
· Online Actions. AmplifyingEducation.org will serve as the focal point of an integrated social media campaign designed to educate and engage fans around America’s education crisis. In partnership with HeadCount, fans will be encouraged to take one of three online actions to improve education.
· Better World Book Drive. Over 80% of schools in New Orleans were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In the most underserved areas, there is one book for every 300 children. Fans will be encouraged to bring one book for K-12 students to the yellow school bus parked in front of the venue each night. Better World Books will ship the books to New Orleans’ Recovery School District libraries or sell them to support Amplifying Educations end-of-tour donations to Teach for America and City Year Denver.
· Education Village. An Education Village will be set up in each venue on every night of the Dispatch tour to highlight the work of leading organizations working in the field of education. By learning more about specific ways they can volunteer in their own community, Dispatch fans will be encouraged to stay involved long after the tour has moved on.
· “Thank You” Downloads. Throughout the Amplifying Education campaign, Dispatch will offer free music downloads from its 2009 Kennedy Center performance as a “thank you” for taking action. Fans will receive 5 songs for signing up at AmplifyingEducation.org, 5 songs for taking an online action for education, and 5 songs for taking a local action for education on the Dispatch tour.
Dispatch’s summer tour, which begins on June 3rd for a three night stand at Red Rocks in Colorado, and culminates on June 26th with a three night appearance at their hometown TD Garden in Boston, and includes the first ever concert at the 25,000 seat Red Bull Arena outside of New York, has been one of the quickest selling concert tours in recent memory. The tour marks the band’s first set of public performances since their historic three-night sold out stand at Madison Square Garden in 2007. Tickets are still available for some dates through the band’s website. A complete list of tour dates is below.
The band also recently announced that they will appear on two of Dave Matthews Band Caravan stops – New York City’s Governor’s Island on August 26-28 as well as The Gorge in George, WA on September 2-4. These performances mark the band’s first appearance ever at a festival of this kind.
Earlier this week Dispatch released an six-song EP, the first collection of studio recordings from the band since 2000. The Peter Katis-produced EP immediately exploded at retail, and at press time was Number Three on the iTunes album chart.
Known as a band who attained superstar live status completely on their own terms, the members of Dispatch – Brad Corrigan, Pete Heimbold and Chad Stokes – released album after album on their own Bomber Records label, steering clear of the major label system and selling more than 600,000 albums. In the process the trio became true indie pioneers, building an enormous, passionate base of fans through the embrace of internet file sharing, word-of-mouth and constant touring.
DISPATCH 2011 SUMMER TOUR
DATE CITY VENUE
June 3 Morrison, CO Red Rocks
June 4 Morrison, CO Red Rocks
June 5 Morrison, CO Red Rocks
June 7 Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion
June 8 Chicago, IL Millennium Park
June 11 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
June 12 L.A., CA Greek Theatre
June 18 Harrison, NJ Red Bull Arena
June 21 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park
June 24 Boston, MA TD Garden
June 25 Boston, MA TD Garden
June 26 Boston, MA TD Garden
Aug. 26-28 New York, NY Governor’s Island*
Sep. 2-4 George, WA The Gorge*
*appearance on Dave Matthews Band Caravan