‘Poopgate’: Chicago marks 20 years since disgusting Dave Matthews Band incident

‘I’ll apologize for that as long as I have to,’ said the singer-songwriter in 2009

Dave Matthews in New York in 2023 (Getty Images)

Today marks 20 years since the infamous incident when a Dave Matthews Band tour bus dumped an estimated 800 pounds of human waste onto an open-top passenger boat sailing down the Chicago River.

The unpleasant anniversary has been marked with an oral history by local publication Chicago Magazine. Last year on this date, a plaque was attached to the Kinzie Street Bridge, which reads: “This solemn spot reminds us of a day a simple tour turned into a flood of something memorable.”

Matthews has repeatedly expressed his regret for the disgusting ordeal, telling a WTMX radio podcast in 2009: “I’ll apologize for that as long as I have to.”

He added: “The bus driver lost his job, and I didn’t have my finger on the button, but it was one of our buses – wasn’t mine – but it was one of the buses in my employment and so I feel bad about it. It would be funnier if it was anyone else but me.”

The unpleasant incident occurred in between two shows the band were playing at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The group were staying at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel, and booked a total of five buses to transport band members back and forth.

On August 8, 2004, bus driver Stefan Wohl was driving alone over the Kinzie Street Bridge when he decided to empty the bus’s blackwater tank.

The Kinzie Street bridge in downtown Chicago, where ‘Poopgate’ occurred in 2004. (Getty Images)

At that moment, the sightseeing passenger boat Chicago’s Little Lady was passing under the bridge while hosting a Chicago Architecture Foundation tour of the Chicago River.

The full contents of the blackwater tank landed on the boat’s open-roof terrace. Around two-thirds of the 120 passengers aboard the tour boat were soaked with liquid excrement. According to a later filing by the Illinois Attorney General: “The liquid waste was brownish yellow in color, and had a foul, offensive odor. The liquid human waste went into passengers’ eyes, mouths, hair, and onto clothing and personal belongings, many of which were soaked. Some of the passengers suffered nausea and vomiting as a result of exposure to the human waste.”

Newspaper reporter Brett McNeil, who was onboard, told Chicago Magazine: “The bus was moving from northeast to southwest across the bridge, and as it hit the bridge, it opened the toilets, which then began cascading down. So it’s like the bus was towing a rooster tail of toilet waste. We basically hit it like the Maid of the Mist. It was a waterfall of toilet water that we passed under.”

The boat immediately returned to dock, and passengers were issued refunds. Five were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for testing. A physician working that day recalled: “I don’t believe anybody suffered any acute injury or illness, but rather, it was the exposure. I’ll say that it raised interesting, fascinating questions about post-exposure prophylaxis to various potentially transmittable diseases, and it led us to have conversations with other specialists to discuss what, if anything, should be done.”

After examining security camera footage, police identified Wohl as being responsible. In March 2005, the driver pleaded guilty to reckless conduct and discharging contaminants to cause water pollution. He was sentenced to 150 hours of community service, fined $10,000 (paid to environmental group Friends of the Chicago River) and received 18 months probation.

The Dave Matthews Band additionally donated $50,000 to the Chicago Park District, $50,000 to Friends of the Chicago River and paid the State of Illinois $200,000 in a settlement.

Lisa Madigan, who was at the time Illinois’s Attorney General, told Chicago Magazine: “It was one of those horrible incidents where you’re reminded that truth is always stranger than fiction. I mean, who could make this up, right? For the passengers on the boat, it was definitely the worst possible case of right place, wrong time.”