The second set fires from the beginning as Branford joins in again, this time on a spectacular Eyes. From there, they head into an Estimated that is truly righteous in its own right, but serves as the entry point for one of the best Dark Stars of the later years. Post-Space things step back from the brink a bit until the phenomenal Lovelight. Branford brings a jazzy sound to this bluesy tune, making for pure perfection. There are times when the boys sound like they are just trying to get out of Branford’s ways so he can rock, and he does, destroying the tune and driving the band relentlessly forward. There are other points where Branford is playing perfectly with the Dead, especially Phil, totally comfortable to just push the envelope further as part of the band. Either way, his playing makes for a special version.

Before Branford showed up at the show, Phil was the only person in the band who knew who he was. Annie Uzdavinis, the Dead’s press person was cousins with Jim Lewi, a musician Branford was working on a project with. When Phil heard of the connection, he had Annie get in touch and invite Branford to the show. Branford talks about going on for Bird Song and having no idea what to expect. At set break, Branford was ready to get going, but the boys prevailed on him to play the rest of the show. Branford later related about the Dark Star and the whole experience,

They said ‘Hey, let’s play ‘Dark Star’ – we hadn’t played that in a while.’ I was like ‘Oh, I don’t know the song.’ They said ‘Oh, you’ll love it. It’s right up your alley.’ They started playing the song and the audience went absolutely ape s–t. They went bananas. I’m looking at them going bananas and I’m going “OK, this must be an anthem.” Then I got all these telephone calls on my private number [from] Dead Heads. The phone would ring and I said ‘How’d you get this number?’ and they’d say ‘Don’t worry about it, we’re harmless, we just love the music.’ Couple of times a week I’d get phone calls. It was really refreshing in a way. When you play in popular environments, people come to like it.

Branford and Jerry hit it off real well. At this first show or later ones, they never talked about the music, but just went out there and played, building on what each other was putting out there. Both enjoyed the experience immensely with Branford saying, “from the moment we started playing, he could tell I was listening to him and he was listening to me and the shit’s gotta be cool.” For Branford, it was like the best jazz gigs where you can just jam without worrying about anything. “When I agreed to sit in with the Dead in 1990, I didn’t know what to expect, aurally or visually. What I experienced was what I remembered music to be in my younger years, something that I’d felt was lost long ago. Process over product. No set lists, light shows and costumes required, but music first. It’s an experience I will always remember with great fondness.”

The night quickly became legendary, and the Eyes found its way onto Without a Net. But the Dead finally put out a sweet soundboard copy of the entire show as the concert album Wake Up to Find Out.