Live in Chicago 12.19.98: At the United Center

Disc 1
1	Intro 0:45
2	The Last Stop 11:04
3	Don't Drink the Water 6:57
4	#41 10:20
5	#40 0:37
6	Lie in Our Graves 12:38
7	What Would You Say 5:35
8	Pantala Intro 5:05
9	Pantala Naga-Pampa 0:40
10	Rapunzel 7:21
11	Stay (Wasting Time) 6:53
Disc 2
1	The Maker / Mitch Rutman 9:37
2	Crash into Me 5:56
3	Jimi Thing 14:10
4	So Much to Say 5:41
5	Too Much 5:13
6	Christmas Song 5:52
7	Watchtower Intro 2:25
8	All Along the Watchtower 12:01

Barnes & Noble

Considering the number of official live releases that have emerged from the Dave Matthews Band camp, it's surprising to note that each has retained a unique mood, with precious little ground covered twice. This double-disc set documents the last stop on the DMB's 1998 winter tour, which probably accounts for the looser-than-usual approach that informs both the jamming and Matthews's personal presence, which is virtually bereft of the pensive persona he sometimes evokes onstage. The two-and-a-half-hour show veers from well-worked set favorites like "41" and "Jimi Thing" (the latter featuring a searing solo from compadre Tim Reynolds) to seldom-performed songs like "The Maker," one of several songs here featuring Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten). Longtime James Brown sideman Maceo Parker -- the opening act on this leg of the tour -- also gets up to lend a hand on "What Would You Say" and coaxes a bit of extra grease from its grooves. Matthews, ever adept at balancing audience expectations and his band's own desires, manages to run through the must-plays with a wry edge, teasing us with bits of "40" tossed in at odd intervals and refashioning "Crash" to incorporate a taste of Little Feat's marvelous "Dixie Chicken." An encore that comprises the DMB original "Christmas Song" and "All Along the Watchtower" finds Matthews generating heat while always remaining cool, and he ends the festivities just the way he should -- on an "up" note. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Long ago -- a full four years, actually -- Dave Matthews decided that it was a very good idea to thwart bootleggers by offering official versions of noteworthy concerts. By the time the series reached its fourth volume, Live in Chicago 12.19.98, in 2001, fans were clamoring for such unreleased material as the scrapped Steve Lillywhite album from 2000, not unadorned, lengthy live records like this, but Matthews and company aren't ones that necessarily follow the direct wishes of the fans -- they'd rather follow the general intent. And so, there are releases like Live in Chicago 12.19.98, finding the band doing pretty fine versions of album favorites and live staples, from "Don't Drink the Water" and "Jimi Thing" to "#41" and "All Along the Watchtower." Since the DMB hasn't been officially captured live since the PBS tie-in Listener Supported this is somewhat valuable, especially since the band is livelier, better here than they were then, but ultimately there really aren't many revelations and based on this it's hard to say why (at least for an outsider) this concert was picked over many others on the tour. Not bad, by any means, but still not the live album that the Dave Matthews Band is capable of producing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine