The Concert in Central Park attendees. Although rain fell throughout the day and continued until the start of the concert, an estimated 500,000 audience members made this the seventh-largest concert attendance in the United States in history. The stage backdrop depicted an urban rooftop with water tank and air outlet, symbolic of New York's skyline. At twilight, the backing band went onstage, followed by New York's mayor, Ed Koch, who announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, Simon and Garfunkel!" The duo entered through a side stage door, took center stage amid audience applause, looked at each other and shook hands, and began the concert with their 1968
The September Concert small army of volunteers, and on September 11th 2002 the first September Concert was born. To date this organization has functioned solely through the efforts of volunteers. In addition to the Board of Directors that included artists Jacques d'Amboise and Robert Rauschenberg, The September Concert Foundation's Advisory Board was set up in 2002 with entertainers such as Quincy Jones, Ravi Shankar and Christy Turlington Burns. Business leaders such as Tom Freston also joined in to help the foundation. In 2010, 200 concerts were held all over the world on or near September 11. In New York City 58 concerts were