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Fifteen years ago Thursday, a Dave Matthews Band tour bus infamously dumped 800 pounds of human waste on a hapless river cruise floating at exactly the wrong time under the Kinzie Street Bridge. Boat passengers — including a Chicago Tribune reporter — enjoying an open air architectural river cruise “described a downpour of foul-smelling, brownish-yellow slurry that ruined their clothes and made several of them sick,” on the afternoon of Aug. 8, 2004, the Tribune reported.

Dave Matthews Band will donate the proceeds from their upcoming concert in Charlotte to five organizations fighting North Carolina’s recently enacted transgender bathroom law. Unlike other artists who have cancelled concerts in the state in opposition to the law, Dave Matthews Band will go ahead with its scheduled May 27 show at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte. In a brief statement on their website, the band announced that a portion of proceeds from the performance would go to five organizations working to fight the law: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal, ACLU of North Carolina, Equality NC...

A founding member of long-running Virginia jam band the Dave Matthews Band has passed away, a rep for the band has revealed in a statement released to Access Hollywood. He was 46 years old. “LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia,” the rep stated. “Moore had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.” Moore, who played flute and pennywhistle in...

We had an extended debate at the office today....what was the best "MTv Unplugged" performance? Me? Hands down....Alice in Chains! Before any reasons are discussed ..... I was curious as to anyone else's opinions or preferences on the topic?

Ben & Jerry's recently unveiled its spring line of flavors, and the makers of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia have introduced a new taste that's likely to be a hit -- except perhaps in Chicago. Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownies. For those who recall the incident of last August, you have to think that everyone involved -- ice cream maker and band members alike -- could have picked a less-disquieting flavor. It was Aug. 8 when a bus driver, transporting the members of the band, dumped the bus' septic tank while driving across the Kinzie Street Bridge, dousing a tour...

CHICAGO (AP) A bus driver for the Dave Matthews Band pleaded guilty Wednesday to dumping 800 pounds of human waste from the vehicle's septic tank onto a sightseeing boat on the Chicago River last summer. The driver, Stefan Wohl, was sentenced to 18 months probation, 150 hours of community service and the maximum $10,000 fine, which will be paid to Friends of the Chicago River, said Tom Stanton, a spokesman for the Cook County State's Attorney's office. Wohl, 42, of Selma, Texas, pleaded guilty to the original charges filed against him in January, reckless conduct and discharging contaminates to cause...

Owners of the Chicago's Little Lady tour boat are the latest to file a civil lawsuit against the Dave Matthews Band, claiming human waste from the rock band's tour bus was emptied from a downtown bridge into the Chicago River --right in the path of the watercraft. Children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and a pregnant woman were drenched by the "foul-smelling, brownish-yellow liquid" in the Aug. 8 incident, according to a suit filed by the vessel's owner Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court. Mercury Skyline Yacht Charters Inc. is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $50,000 and punitive damages...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A driver for the Dave Matthews Band has been charged with reckless conduct for dumping human waste from a tour bus over the side of a bridge onto passengers aboard a boat on the Chicago River. Stefan Wohl, 42, who turned himself in to authorities and was released pending a March hearing, drives a bus assigned to the band's violinist, Boyd Tinsley. Prosecutors said Wohl was alone on the bus at the time of the incident last August 8, in which up to 100 gallons (380 litres) of waste were dumped over the bridge and fell on...

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) The tour bus driver for the Dave Matthews Band was formally charged Wednesday with dumping human waste on passengers of a sightseeing boat. The alleged driver, Stefan A. Wohl, surrendered to police Wednesday. He faces two misdemeanor charges of reckless conduct and contaminating the Chicago River. Whol, 42, was released on $1,000 bond. Wohl now faces up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine. In August, passengers were hit with 80 to 100 gallons of waste as they cruised under the Kinzie Street bridge. Investigators said the dumping could not have been an accident. Cook County...

CHICAGO (AP) The Dave Matthews Band said Friday it wants to make amends after one of its tour bus drivers was accused of dumping human waste on sightseers on the Chicago River, but it stopped short of accepting responsibility for the incident. The Illinois Attorney General's office sued the band and the driver after the Aug. 8 incident, alleging that the driver emptied the vehicle's septic tank while crossing a bridge over the river, dousing more than 100 tour boat passengers with raw sewage. The band said it had contacted the boat owner and tour operator to try to identify...

I don't want to completely stick my neck out on this, because when you hope something is true, it clouds your judgemenet (as Dan Rather has found out!)But it appears to me that tickets are available at all the gigs for the "swing states" pro-Kerry/anti-Bush tour. Curiously, New York and New York have not been added to this "swing states" tour. Odd. Now, this is not 1980, but it seems even the Springsteen shows still have tickets available. A bad sign for the left?

As part of an effort to inspire people to vote for change this November, the coalition of artists who are participating in this Fall’s 36 city, 12 state Vote For Change tour will come together for a grand finale performance in Washington, DC on October 11 at the MCI Center. This, as with all Vote For Change shows, is presented by MoveOn PAC to benefit America Coming Together (ACT). (I edited out the stuff on where to buy tickets and the phone number to call, in keeping with FR rules against selling stuff from the site...click on the link to...

The Dave Matthews Band, which is raising money to defeat President Bush by touring the country with his concerts, will appear at Bryce Jordan Center at the public Penn State University in State College, Pa. early next month. WPHT 1210 am radio host Dom Giordano, who brought up the information, on Friday said he does not think Penn State would be a proper place for such a polarizing political rally considering that the school is partly taxpayer funded. The president of the University said he feels there is nothing wrong with Matthews' anti-Bush concert. Concerts that raise voter awareness are...

To the people of Chicago and our fans: Given comments being made in some of the emails we have received from fans and the comments we have seen in some of the media, we believe it is important to clarify where we stand regarding the bus dumping incident in Chicago. Hopefully this will resolve any misunderstandings because we want everyone to know that we care deeply about what happened to the people on the boat that day, which was terrible, and the damage that occurred to Chicago's environment. We are not attempting to avoid any responsibility we may have for...

'Enviro' Band Accused of Dumping on Chicago Remember that story about the raw sewage poured onto hapless boaters in Chicago? The Bush-bashing Dave Matthews Band did it, says Illinois' Democrat attorney general. Complaint links rock band to dumped sewage August 25, 2004 BY ANNIE SWEENEY Staff Reporter Advertisement The Dave Matthews Band's concerns for the environment stretch from marine life in Biscayne National Park to transit riders in the San Francisco Bay Area. But on Tuesday the band was accused of making a not-so-ecofriendly contribution to the Chicago River: dumping raw sewage from a tour bus onto the heads of...

CHICAGO (CBS 2) Rock star Dave Matthews and his tour bus driver are facing a filthy lawsuit. The Illinois Attorney General's office says they're responsible for dumping up to 100-gallons of raw human waste from a tour bus onto the Kinzie Street Bridge earlier this month. The nasty mess rained down on passengers aboard a sightseeing boat two weeks ago. The suit charges both the band and the bus driver with violating state water pollution laws, as well as common law public nuisance laws. A spokesman for the band says all of its tour buses were parked at the time...

Dave Matthews in town for shows, but buses `parked'. The bus driver for rock star Dave Matthews called from the road Monday to say his luxury coach was not the one responsible for dousing passengers on a Chicago River tour boat with foul-smelling muck over the weekend. Witnesses on the architectural sightseeing cruise told police they saw a long black tour bus dump liquid waste Sunday afternoon as their boat crossed under the Kinzie Street bridge. About two-thirds of the passengers seated on the upper deck of Chicago's Little Lady were soaked with the "brownish-yellow" substance. One witness gave Chicago...