True believer

That was a good article. More insightful than the usual story on this group. Although I'm a bit older than the usual Dispatch fan (58), I became an ardent fan when my teenage son left one of their CDs in the car. Urmston, like John Lennon, is the cutting edge creative force in this group, although all three are talented musicians and artists. But, like Lennon, Urmston won't have the widespread appeal without Corrigan and Francis because his sensibility is too far out on the spectrum. He needs his "frat boy" former band mates' harmonies and simplicity to bring his art back to the center where the audience is. I totally understand his need to break off on his own, however. His art is not to entertain, like Francis, but to change the world. The Bush Administration’s post 911 actions must have created in him an urgency to act. Like many who understood the direction Bush was taking our country, i.e., another Vietnam, slaughter of innocents, civil liberties lost, intimidation on the media and celebrities and lawmakers; Urmston could not ignore these dramatic developments. There’s a poignant moment in “The Last Dispatch” where Corrigan tells Chad he can’t wear his “No Bush” T-shirt to the final concert. Had Chad not already broken out on his own, he would have at that moment. But he is respectful and keeps his love for his old friend separate. Without raising his voice, he asked Brad, “Are you going to vote for Bush?” When it became apparent that Brad’s answer was yes, you could read Urmton’s first incredulous, then resigned expression. Later he tells the interviewer that despite the joy of reuniting with his band mates, events of that week reminded him of why he needed to go out on his own. The sad part for the fate of Dispatch and it’s fans is that, like many well intentioned people who supported Bush, Corrigan was probably less aware of the atrocities Bush supported and the damage to our republic, and focused more on the president’s religious faith, which Brad shared. But Urmston is well read, intellectual, and understands the whole Bush picture. He must address it in his art. That Francis had to be educated about Zimbawe before agreeing to the concert, speaks volumes about why Urmston could not work with these guys anymore. Yet what is sad is that Urmston could do so much more for his causes if he continued working with his old band mates. They bring to his art a universal appeal. They enable Urmston to reach a far greater audience and have many times the influence he will have with State Radio. Such was the way of Lennon, when separated from the more pop artist McCartney. That Dispatch’s songs now sound to Urmston like a high school band, speaks to the wider appeal of simple tunes. Urmston wants to change the world, but he also wants to make art, and the two goals may be mutually exclusive, the world being too simple-minded to get his art. My hope is that Urmston will find a way to reach the wider audience before he fades. As Vonnegut would say, “so it goes.”