Springsteen 1979

Bruce and The E Street Band Go (Anti-) Nuclear

Thank you so much, Santa Schwartz! I love my new time machine.

I have been interested in time travel since I was a kid in the 24th century. Or was it the Fourth century, b.c.e.? It's hard to recall.

My family is aware of my time travel quirk. Early in the 21st century, when I was still drinking, I would get a quiet, faraway look in my eyes at the dinner table. My daughters would not ask, "what are you thinking?" They'd ask the more precise: "What year are you in?"

But the recent DVD/CD release: Springsteen E Street Band: The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts, brought me back to a fascinating and troubled year. You could forgive all the trespasses of that tattered year after watching around 90 minutes of Bruce Springsteen at a youthful, arena rock pinnacle on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22, the fourth and fifth of five shows to benefit Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), at Madison Square Garden. Jackson Browne, John Hall of Orleans, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, Tom Petty, and many others had jo…