On Wednesday night, July 18th, Dispatch continued their extensive summer tour with Nahko and Medicine for the People and Raye Zaragoza at SummerStage NYC in Central Park. As they have throughout this tour, the band performed a hearty helping of material from their 2017 release, America, Location 12, including “Only the Wild Ones”, “Midnight Lorry”, “Windylike”, “Painted Yellow Lines”, “Rice Water”, “Curse + Crush”, and more. Amidst the newer tunes, Dispatch peppered in a selection of fan-favorites, including “Bang Bang” (1997), “Time Served” (2000), “Flying Horses” (1996), and “Open Up” (2000).

The band was in fine form all evening, showcasing their diverse abilities as they rotated instruments and stage positions with virtually every song. Chad Stokes also used the space between songs to speak his mind, offering uplifting messages to those affected by our country’s current immigration policies and sending love to founding band member Pete Francis Heimbold, who is not currently touring with the band as he continues to battle depression.

After a rocking set-closing rendition of Bang Bang favorite “Bats in the Belfry”, the band returned to the stage and began their encore with one last America, Location 12 track, “Be Gone”. Finally, Dispatch kicked into one last cut from Bang Bang, “Out Loud”, bringing up the wheelchair-bound son of their former manager to enjoy the onstage Big Apple glow along with them to the audible approval of the audience.

Dispatch returns to Central Park tonight for their second and final New York show. From there, they’ll head to the Jersey Shore for a performance at Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park on Friday, July 20th, and onward to Maryland for a Merriweather Post Pavillion performance on Saturday, July 21st. For a full list of Dispatch’s upcoming summer tour dates, head to the band’s website.

Below, you can view a gallery of photos from Dispatch’s first of two New York City performances courtesy of photographer Andrew O’Brien.

Setlist: Dispatch | Central Park SummerStage | New York, NY | 7/18/2018

Set: Only the Wild Ones, Time Served, Midnight Lorry, Bang Bang, Beto, Windylike, Flying Horses, Painted Yellow Lines, Rice Water, Fallin’, Curse + Crush, Open Up, Fly With Me, Bats in the Belfry

Encore: Be Gone, Out Loud