Photo by: Dino Perrucci

Coming together for the first time since a so-called “farewell” show attended by more than 100,000 fans in Boston in 2004, organic, jam-pop trio Dispatch put all its efforts toward charity this time around. All three nights sold out in a matter of hours as proceeds for its “Zimbabwe” run totaled more than $1 million, benefiting to-be-determined aid organizations in the ravaged African country. 

While the stand’s quick sell-out was surprising, the concert’s energy wasn’t. For a band that has not toured heavily since 2001, the Garden was filled with a new generation of young fans, equipped with popped Lacoste collars and ecstatic for their first Dispatch concert experience. 

Photo by: Rachel Zahumensky 

In a time when most festivals have either begun to lean heavily toward indie rock or a specific genre, be that electronica or the music of the Grateful Dead, Walther Production’s All Good in West Virginia is the jam-friendliest fest around. Tucked in a mountain top with a natural amphitheater and gorgeous surrounding views, this year’s celebration featured headlining performances by moe., RatDog, a rare outing from Leftover Salmon and, on Thursday night, a pre-fest reading of the Grateful Dead’s 10/29/77 by The Dark Star Orchestra.

Photo by Tim Stiegler

With babysitters secured, hash pipes stowed away and faded tie-dyes retrieved from the bottom of the t-shirt drawer; dozens of aging hippies packed the cramped performance area aboard the “Rockin’ the River Cruise” happily enduring the sticky humidity for a chance to dance up close to The New Riders of the Purple Sage. Others less concerned with proving that they still rock, stood out on the back balcony, where they could enjoy views of Manhattan and listen to the music as it lingered in the muggy summer evening before being swept away by the cooling Hudson River breeze. Inside, underneath the second-floor awning, the most recent incarnation of the New Riders tore through its blend of fiery, acid-infused country-rock, in a converted Circle Line Boat turned floating amphitheater.