Indie folk rock band DISPATCH is the first big star to launch the concert series on Wednesday, July 26, with doors open at 5:30 p.m. Photo: DISPATCH.

PARK CITY, Utah — The historic Big Stars, Bright Nights concert series returns to Park City this summer at a transformed outdoor venue within the Canyons Village. Indie folk rock band DISPATCH is the first big star to launch the concert series on Wednesday, July 26, with doors open at 5:30 p.m.; tickets can be purchased here.

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DISPATCH has performed in Utah, namely Salt Lake City. However, this will be the band’s first performance in Park City. Although band member Chadwick Stokes performed solo in Park City during select Sundance Film Festivals.

“[We] just can’t wait to get there and be in the mountains, said Stokes. “I always say it’s such a special spot in our country, in this world, to be up in those sacred mountains. We’re just grateful to be able to do it.”

Stokes and Brad Corrigan will take Parkites through a night featuring music from DISPATCH’s latest album, “Break Our Fall.” DISPATCH was ready to release the album and go on tour when the COVID-19 pandemic threw things awry.

“We left Stinson Beach up in San Francisco with an album basically done, but it just wasn’t quite there,” Stokes said. “We ended up having the extra time granted by the pandemic to deconstruct a lot of songs. We got carried away with all the bells and whistles of the recording process, which are really fun. But you can lose the song sometimes. So, we were able to pare things back. That took a few months, whereas the original recording probably took nine days.”

With additional time, the band was able to reflect on the murder of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and other socioeconomic offshoots from the pandemic. The extra time allowed the addition of two entirely new songs to the album, “Promise Land” and “The Poet Nurse and The Identical Queen.”

DISPATCH kicks off its summer tour in Washington, D.C., playing alongside the National Symphony Orchestra for the first time. Band members are scattered around the country from Martha’s Vineyard to Idaho and California; they’ll meet up before the first show to practice with each other and the National Symphony Orchestra.

The band’s genre of music is fluid and a bit hard to define, but its members have always been inspired by social justice and human nature, leading to unique story-telling style lyrics and band members creating their own nonprofit organizations.

Stoke’s nonprofit organization, Calling All Crows, focuses on education and stopping sexual violence and abuse within the music industry. Its latest campaign, Here for the Music, is training thousands of music venue employees and staff members to spot violence to stop it and de-escalate the situation.

After a trip to Nicaragua, Corrigan was witness to families and children living in unimaginable conditions in a literal trash dump, inspiring him to create Love Light + Melody. Love Light + Melody aims to offer opportunities for growth for these children through education, music and the arts, and sports, and founded Ileana’s School of Hope and the Love Light + Melody scholarship program.

Many stops on the DISPATCH tour have already sold out. To secure your spot for DISPATCH at Canyons Village, find tickets online.

The Big Stars, Bright Nights concert series will run through Labor Day weekend. Big Stars, Bright Nights concerts offer a range of music genres for all to enjoy. Legendary artists will take the stage, each delivering unforgettable live music under the open sky at Canyons Village at Park City Mountain, concluding with a rock and soul showcase event.