Tonight’s big show in Central Park will not only bring great music to the Big Apple, it will help raise money for our cash-strapped schools.
AOL is presenting the red-hot show and, in conjunction with the New York Post, giving away an exclusive CD-ROM in today’s editions of the newspaper in a bid to collect a minimum of $1 million for New York City’s Fund for Public Schools.
Readers who run the CD-ROM will get AOL’s new 9.0 optimized Internet service free for 60 days.
For every person who signs up with AOL using the disc, $50 will be donated to the Fund for Public Schools.
And everybody who joins will also have the chance to win one of nine $25,000 cash scholarships to be awarded by AOL.
Dave is committed to helping city schoolkids and has released three songs for inclusion on the CD-ROM, including his sensational new hit, “Gravedigger,” from his solo album debut, “Some Devil.”
“This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for us,” Matthews said recently of the Central Park concert.
“It’s going to be one of those times when we can make some noise – and benefiting the kids is just an enormous, shiny cherry on top.”
Matthews is working with the Fund for Public Schools, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving public education for 1.1 million children in New York City.
Managed by the Dept. of Education’s Office of Strategic Partnerships, the fund works with corporations, foundations, individuals and nonprofit partners to raise critical funding for schools.
LISTEN UP, DAVEHEADS
In the spirit of the Dead, the Dave Matthews Band has always encouraged its fans to audio tape its concerts and tonight’s show is no exception.
Matthews has said he allows taping, because it makes people want to buy more and “increase the devotion” of fans.
Such dedicated, bootleg swapping, DMB-debating fans are often called “Daveheads.”
As for tonight, photography and video recording is prohibited. Audio recording is permitted only in the Taper’s Section for folks with a Taper’s Ticket available through the Dave Matthew’s Band Fan Club (www.dmband.com).
HOW TO GET THERE
Park opens: 3 p.m.
Concert starts: 7 p.m.
Ticketholders only will be admitted to Central Park between 72nd Street and 86th Street.
The only entrances for the concert will be at 72nd Street at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street at Central Park West.
Lines will form south of 72nd Street on park sides of Fifth Avenue and Central Park West.
Suggested subway stops are: 59th Street/Columbus Circle (A, C, 1, 2, 3, 9, D, B) Fifth Avenue and 59th Street (N, R, W)Lexington Avenue and 59th Street on the East Side (4, 5, 6)