Overview

Dave Matthews Band Chicago River Poop Incident refers to a viral event from August 2004 in which a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) dumped an estimated 800 pounds (360 kg) of human waste through the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicago, Illinois, showering more than 100 passengers who were enjoying an architectural boat trip in feces from the vehicle's blackwater tank. The band agreed a year later to pay $200,000 to environmental protection and other projects. Online, fake photos of the tourist boat with mounds of feces have been spread, as well as numerous memes and jokes related to the scatological controversy.

Background

On August 8th, 2004, a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band drove across the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicago and dumped an estimated 800 pounds (360 kg) of human waste into the Chicago River. The liquid waste landed on more than 100 people on a sightseeing boat operated by the Chicago Architecture Foundation.^[1] On December 30th, 2020, the YouTube^[2] channel Rock N' Roll True Stories explained how the incident occurred and the aftermath for the band, which amassed more than 72,000 views and 1,700 likes in four years. (seen below)

Developments

Dave Matthews Band's Chicago River Incident Cade Settle

On May 2nd, 2005, Billboard^[3] revealed the Dave Matthews Band had settled a lawsuit stemming from the Chicago River incident, agreeing to pay $200,000 to an environmental fund and take measures to avoid a repeat of the incident. The bus driver Stefan Wohl was sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to reckless conduct and discharging contaminants to cause water pollution.

Dave Matthews Band Poop Incident Plaque

On August 8th, 2023, the Riot Fest Historical Society attached a plaque to the Kinzie Street Bridge commemorating the 19th anniversary of the incident. @FOX32Chicago posted a video on YouTube^[4] about the dedicated plaque (seen below), receiving roughly 9,900 views and 73 likes in a year.

Fake Tourist Boat Photo

The Dave Matthews Band poop incident became a recurring topic on the internet over the next two decades, also sparking fake pictures depicting the tourist boat filled with feces. On February 8th, 2024, Snopes^[5] did a fact check on a post shared to X (formerly Twitter) on November 11th, 2020, which included a photograph (seen below) allegedly depicting the 2004 incident, revealing the fake photo originates from an article published by the satirical website The Onion^[6] on November 28th, 2018, titled "Dave Matthews Band Apologizes After Tour Bus Dumps Another 800 Pounds Of Human S*** Onto Same Boat Full Of People."

Online Reactions

Over 20 years since the Dave Matthews Band poop incident occurred, it has been mentioned on multiple platforms and turned into the subject of jokes on social media. For example, on February 28th, 2024, Joe Rogan commented on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience about the Dave Matthews Band's controversy (seen below), amassing more than 254,000 views and 4,000 likes in six months on the YouTube^[7] video's upload.

On August 9th, 2018, Reddit^[8] user @Public_Fucking_Media posted a montage of a tour bus cake on top of the Kinzie Street Bridge, captioning it, "That One Time The Dave Matthews Band Dumped 800 Pounds Of Poop On A Boat Full Of People," which received over 720 upvotes and 60 comments in six years.

Search Interest

External References