Dispatch brings all-star folk rock lineup to San Francisco

On Sunday, July 27th, American rock band Dispatch brought their summer tour to San Francisco’s The Masonic. Tour support for the evening included Donavon Frankenreiter and G. Love opening the night followed by Aussie roots rock legend John Butler. 

The combination of Donovan Frankenreiter and G. Love (sans Special Sauce) made for a special pairing, getting the crowd hyped — especially by the last song “Peace, Love, and Happiness”. The duo’s set included all their combined greatest hits, starting with Frankenreiter’s “Free” and “It Don’t Matter” and concluding with G. Love‘s “Rainbow”, “Rodeo Clowns”, and “Cold Beverage”. 

Next up, before Dispatch took the stage, was a long-awaited artist for me to see live.

John Butler is releasing his forthcoming album Prism on September 5th, so this night, he performed with full passion. Even the 10-minute instrumental track “Ocean” made the list, leaving the audience in a trance. “Wade in the Water” was another highlight song. John Butler only performed nine songs spanning his career… but considering some were 10 minutes, it was still a great show. Ending his set with a song off his debut album Zebra, I hope John Butler comes back to the States soon so we can get more!

Dispatch — touring to celebrate and promote their ninth studio album, Yellow Jacket — seemed renewed and rejuvenated, with members smiling ear-to-ear throughout the set. The crowd in the Masonic’s top balcony were dancing as much as the dance party taking place on the floor. Songs from the new album blended seamlessly with Dispatch’s older catalog: from “Passerby”, “Painted Yellow Lines”, “Out Loud”, and “Whisk Me Away” to “Open Up”, “Fallin”, “Yellow Jacket”, “Bang Bang”, “Ohio” (a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover), “The Night Young”, “Letter To Lady J”, “The General”, “Elias”, and “Only The Wild Ones”.

For the grand finale, Dispatch brought back opening artists Donavon Frankenreiter, G.Love, and John Butler to all sing together the Bob Dylan classic, “Like a Rolling Stone”. It was icing on the cake to see all these great artists sharing the stage like that! All in all, it was a stellar night of music with a great crowd at a great venue! Don’t miss this tour if it’s rolling through a town near you! 

Photography by Katey Schoenberger

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