I was still marginally familiar with the band, and this was only my second show, and my first from an "enhanced" perspective. I don't recall much of the first set except the Box of Rain closer, which I knew was something special. Somewhere during the second set I got it. I remember thinking "I SEE WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!!!"

The segues are masterful throughout set II-- no stop & drop transitions here. The PITB jam modulates to A major, and then just hangs for a moment before dropping like a roller coaster into Franklin's Tower. That song slips into a minor mode as it blurbles down to the end, but Bobby already has Miracle cued up. The drummers give him a rolling start, he blasts the first chord, and they're off again. As the miracle outro jam winds down, Jerry sneaks in another modulation and they slip into the PITB again for some pre-drums jamming. The post-Space introduction to Wheel is slow and patient, and allows the song to develop naturally from the chaos. Another perfectly timed segue into Brent's second showcase of the night sends chills down the crowd's collective spine, and then a final segue wraps it up with the Playin' reprise.

then decays into the rest of the tour. A snooze. Some great recordings are available.

we knew it was weird when some guy told us they have this whole new way of playing. It was a bit scary, this show is almost good, there were shows on this tour that were weird and seemed like they had forgotten what they were doing. That's our opinion, anyone else think that's true, the night before is a good example, and Providence was truly ugly. RIP Greg remember this??????????? 4 stars cause the rest of the tour was unclear and messed up and "That's not my band" from invasion of the body snatchers comes to mind. quality is improving like that! 4 for that my old tape was just ok.

Thanks Chris for sharing this Matrix-ed gem from a year I don't often get excited about. Just goes to show . . .

One of the things I first notice about early 86' shows is that the sound and momentum has changed..It's a little off..85's vibe and sound are very distinct and did not carry over into 86' I call it the forgotten year...yet there are some nice shows..I like this 2nd set and the sound quality is not bad.FOREVER GRATEFUL>FOREVER DEAD..Give it a whirl

plz stop emailing me kay?? ur kinda weierdddd!!
enuff with the latex stories

This was an amazing second set at a terrific venue. Completely blew me away. Seemed at the time like Playing was woven in and out of the entire set, though I can't hear that as well now from 23 years away.

Many thanks to Chris Chappell for the nice Aud/SBD mix.

Five stars for a 1986 show, four in perspective. Some may discount that relative to other years. Jerry wasn't in great health, and Bobby did weird things with his guitar all spring.

Nice lil' nugget of gold here. As good a she gets for 1986. Tight and light....nothing too heavy here, but a well executed, seamless stream of delights, by all means. A warm and fuzzy Baby Blue at 2:30 am w/ a few more bong hits to wrap it all up, leaves me smiling......what next in this cavern of delights??? The archive is a dream cometh true! Mark Brazier---you out there?

Just listened to the first half of the set into drumz. I'll give it 5 stars to draw attention. This is the Dead as tight as they could be for the era. Jerry is focused, the band is adventurous, and every song, every jam, and transition is handled with love and care. The Matrix is clean and the sound is full. Very enjoyable music here.