This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
I like Dave Matthews as much as the next guy. I also appreciate the fact that the live setting is where he and his band truly do their best work.
But honestly, when the guy puts out seven live albums over 10 years — and only five studio albums in that same period — he’s belabouring the point. Yes, the three-disc, 160-minute Central Park Concert has its fair share of stellar moments, from perennials like All Along The Watchtower and Jimi Thing to a nice cover of Neil Young’s Cortez The Killer co-starring ubiquitous guest guitarist Warren Haynes. But as you sit through the umpeenth live versions of Don’t Drink The Water, Dancing Nancies, Stay (Wasting Time) or Ants Marching, you find yourself asking: Just how much live DMB do I really need? The answer, quite obviously: Not quite this much.
