The Central Park Concert (CD - 2003)

Additional personnel: Warren Haynes (vocals, guitar); Butch Taylor (keyboards).

Recorded live in Central Park, New York, New York.

Personnel: Dave Matthews, Warren Haynes (vocals, guitar); Boyd Tinsley (violin); LeRoi Moore (flute, saxophone); Butch Taylor (keyboards); Carter Beauford (drums).

Recording information: Central Park, New York, NY.

Photographer: Barnaby Draper.

Not since the legendary performances by Simon & Garfunkel and later Garth Brooks has there been as big an event in New York's beloved Central Park as the AOL-sponsored 2003 Dave Matthews concert. The DMB had spent the last decade cementing its iconic status, so this was a major happening attended by hordes of faithful followers. Though Matthews would soon after take a break from the band to explore other musical areas, he and his longtime cohorts Boyd Tinsley, Carter Beauford, et al, tear it up with the easy confidence of skilled veterans.

Though much of this three-disc set is appropriately taken up with the DMB's trademark amalgam of funk, pop, rock, and jazz, Dave and the boys do mix things up a bit. Allman Brothers/Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Hayes joins the band for a gritty, extended take on Neil Young's gauzy epic "Cortez the Killer," and Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" later becomes a springboard for a volcanic display of the instrumentalists' abilities. Of course, the band trots their hits out as well--"What Would You Say," "Ants Marching," and more--but THE CENTRAL PARK CONCERT paints a much wider picture of the Dave Matthews Band's sound. minimize