Dispatch

DISPATCH, one of the most popular indie acts ever to come out of the Northeast, proved just how big they were last July when they reunited for three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. A DVD from those concerts, Dispatch: Zimbabwe Live at Madison Square Garden, will be in stores on January 29. It’ll include concert footage, band interviews, and a half-hour documentary on the devastation in Zimbabwe, plus a CD culled from the shows. A portion of the proceeds will go toward fighting social injustice in Zimbabwe. . . . New weekly rock venue: the DRAFT BAR & GRILLE in Allston. Formerly the Kinvara Pub, it now has live original music on Thursday nights. On the 17th: the Jo Henley Band, Tin Can Tele, and Jake Hill; on the 24th: Two Hour Change and 3VE. . . . Unnatural Axe singer/guitarist RICH PARSONS has started yet another new group; they’re called THEE THREE, and you’ll probably never see them live, inasmuch as singer/guitarist Astrid Dante and guitarist Alex Vargui live in Italy. (The rhythm-section guys — bassist Frank Dehler and drummer Jack Clark — are Axe vets.) Parsons met Dante and Vargui during last year’s “Road to Ruin” punk festival in Rome. Thee Three do have one show booked: this year’s Ruin festival in May. . . . In April, the FEAR NUTTIN BAND will release Yardcore, a mix of what they call dancehall reggae and “melodic hardcore.” They’ll celebrate the release of a homonymous teaser EP with a Harpers Ferry gig with the Toasters this Friday, January 18. . . . The BOSTON MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT continues its mission — “bringing new music to uncommon places” — when its fifth season of club concerts begins February 5 at Club Café. The program will feature composer-in-residence Lisa Bielawa’s Synopses, with Rachel Braude (flute/piccolo), Sasha Callahan (violin), Charles Dimmick (violin), and Leo Eguchi (cello).