CSN, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne Rock Against Nukes
By Barry Walters, Rolling Stone Magazine
August 19, 2011
“I’m so happy to be here, my dimples are locked,” a beaming Bonnie Raitt said during her set at the August 7th all-star concert benefiting MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy), the activist group Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and John Hall created in 1979 to promote alternatives to nuclear power.
Thirty-two years after they staged five legendary No Nukes shows at Madison Square Garden – with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, James Taylor and others – the foursome reunited at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View California, inspired by the nuclear disaster in Japan. “We saw the accident in Fukushima as an opportunity to reawaken the American people to the dangers of nuclear power,” Nash said backstage during the seven-hour benefit. “The earthquake that caused Fukushima happened 100 kilometers offshore. A year ago they found an earthquake fault just a few hundred yards from the Diablo Canyon Power Plant.”
The show, which was powered by renewable energy and streamed live online, had a joyfully collaborative vibe. Raitt, Browne, Nash and former Orleans guitarist Hall – who recently served two terms in Congress representing a New York District – were on and off the stage all day, singing and playing with their many guests.
