Compiled from a series of gigs in September 1973,
Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live captures Neil Young & the Santa Monica Flyers just after they recorded the epochal
Tonight's the Night. It would be another two years before
Tonight's the Night hit the stores, the label sitting on the record because it was too dark and murky. On-stage, these same songs straighten themselves out and, in the process, get a touch lighter. On
Tonight's the Night, it often appeared as if
Young and his crew learned the songs as they recorded them, but on
Roxy, the Santa Monica Flyers have the changes under their belts and are really in the mood to have a good time. For anybody who has bought into the dark mythos surrounding
Tonight's the Night, it's startling to hear
Neil and his band joking around on-stage and treating this as an Irish wake, not an occasion for mourning. As such, it's almost a necessary addendum to
Tonight's the Night, since it illustrates how
Young's music continually evolved. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine