Brian Wilson - Live at the Roxy Theatre [3LP Red, White & Blue]

Brian Wilson's Live at the Roxy Theatre captures two joyous nights in West Hollywood in 2000, his classic songs roaring back to life, here spread across three LPs in red, white and blue.

Still early in his late-blooming solo touring career, Wilson stepped onto the intimate Roxy stage backed by a band of devoted players including Jeffrey Foskett, Darian Sahanaja and Probyn Gregory, a group skilled enough to recreate the layered harmonies and orchestral detail of his Beach Boys work. First sold through his own website, the album became a vivid document of an artist rediscovering the thrill of performing.

The setlist spans the hits and the hidden gems. "In My Room" glows with tender, close-knit harmonies, "God Only Knows" lands with real emotional weight, and "Love and Mercy," his own solo signature, arrives as a heartfelt benediction near the close. Along the way come deep cuts from Pet Sounds and the later Beach Boys catalog, plus a loving cover of the Ronettes' "Be My Baby."

It's a warm, generous concert recording from one of pop's great visionaries, alive with affection flowing in both directions between performer and audience. For anyone who treasures his music, this is a wonderful way to hear those songs come home.