''The Last Dispatch'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

by Helmut Schleppi overviewing and giving insight into the final days of the indie rock band Dispatch, which culminated with two final live concerts. The first concert took place at the

Somerville Theatre The Somerville Theatre is an independent movie theater and concert venue in the Davis Square neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. Over one hundred years old, the Somerville Theatre started off as a vaudeville house and movie ...

to a very exclusive crowd. Two days later, on July 31, 2004, the band performed a free concert at the

Hatch Shell The Edward A. Hatch Memorial Shell (commonly referred to as the "Hatch Shell") is an outdoor concert venue on the Charles River Esplanade in the Back Bay section of Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1939–1940, it is one of the city's prominent e ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. It was estimated that the turnout would only be between 10,000 and 30,000 people. In the end, the crowd grew to reach a reported 110,000 fans. A CD release, ''

All Points Bulletin An all-points bulletin (APB) is an electronic information broadcast sent from one sender to a group of recipients, to rapidly communicate an important message.Reiter, E. (1970). Police strive to provide protection machines lend valuable assista ...

'', features two discs of the two concerts and a DVD featuring selections from both shows.

Release

The film was originally released in 2005, where ''The Last Dispatch'' saw its first premiere at

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

from July 28 to July 31. A portion of the profits from the movie were given to the band's favorite charity,

Elias Fund The Elias Fund is a nonprofit organization funding community development and education for Zimbabwean youth. Overview The Elias Fund began with a simple purpose - help one man raise his children. Today EF empowers Zimbabwean communities to build ...

. Premieres at both New York's Village East Cinemas and Chicago's Park West Theater followed, where the film opened on April 21 and 28, respectively. ''The Last Dispatch'' was released on DVD on September 26, 2006. The only special feature was a

Theatrical Trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and tech ...

External links

Official Documentary website
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Article in the boston Globe
Rockumentaries 2005 films 2005 documentary films American documentary films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{music-documentary-film-stub