Review Summary: All Points Bulletin is Dispatch at their best. This album highlights their natural talents and ability to play so well together. This album was also Dispatch's final show before their 2004 breakup.
In July 2004, the band Dispatch played one final show, Last Dispatch. The show had over 100,000 in attendance, making it the largest show in indie music history. Later that year, All Points Bulletin was released. This album contained one disc of a live show three days before the Last Dispatch, one disc of songs from the Last Dispatch, and one DVD of clips from the final show.
Dispatch is:
Chad [Stokes] Urmston: Vox, Guitar, Bass
Brad [Braddigan] Corrigan: Vox, Drums, Guitar
Pete [Francis] Heimbold: Vox, Guitar, Bass
The first disc was a live recording from July 28, 2004, three days before the Last Dispatch. It was recorded in the Somerville Theatre, very close to Dispatch’s home town. This disc begins with the extremely energetic Open Up. After Open Up and Time Serve comes Here We Go. This is why Dispatch is so great. This song is not only played with the aid of a saxophone, but Dispatch also jams for a while, making this song a little over eight minutes in length. This song flows perfectly, and it’s definitely better than the album versions. Riddle, a new song, is played as well. You can tell Dispatch has not practiced this song very much, or played it together live very many times. They make a few lyrical mistakes and repeat the chorus over and over again. I’m not saying it is a bad song, but I think it could have been played smoother. After Riddle, Dispatch goes straight into an old favorite, Bang Bang. This song is played to perfection live, and Pete’s guitar solo is euphoric. This song is Dispatch at their best. Ride a Tear, another song which was never released on an album, is played next. It is straight-up reggae, aided with a saxophone, sung by Pete, and very euphoric, much better than the also unreleased Riddle. The last few songs are all classic Dispatch, played to perfection, and sound great. I’m really glad they used songs from this show, because Chad messes up a lot of the lyrics in these same songs from the Last Dispatch. By the end of Somerville Theatre, you will be wanting more and more.
The Hatch Shell disc starts with Past the Falls. It’s played electric, faster, and with more energy live. You can tell instantly that there is a crowd of over 100,000 here compared to the 800 or so at the Somerville Theatre. After Bullet Holes, Braddigan plays one of his own creations, Fallin’. I have to say the Dispatch version sounds way better than his own version. The album slows down with Two Coins and Bridges. Elias is played to perfection, along with Carry You. The crowd really gets into these two songs, and you can tell they are singing along with most of the lines. This disc finished with three of Dispatch’s most popular songs, Bats in the Belfry, Outloud, and, of course, The General. Bats is really fast and Chad dedicates it to, “the kids up in the trees.” The band jams for a few minutes about half way through the song and it sounds crazy. Outloud starts out slow, but picks up pace, and Dispatch does a little Bob Marley medley about half way through it. They sing portions of Stir It Up and Get Up, Stand Up. When the song is finished, they do a little band rap and launch straight into The General. Everyone knows this song is coming, and flows smoothly. There is only one problem: Chad messes up the verse after the first chorus. It’s not very noticeable however, and it is quickly forgotten. This song ends the album, and the era of Dispatch perfectly. In the words of Dispatch, “Go now you are forgiven.”
This is a very strong album, and it shows off Dispatch’s natural talents and ability to play together. I would recommend this to all Dispatch fans, or anyone who needs a great live album to listen to. This is classic Dispatch, and the Hatch Shell [Last Dispatch] was a classic show.
