Album review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts.
★★★★☆
Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 30th birthday during the September 1979 run of dates at Madison Square Garden which would later be christened the No Nukes Concerts. These shows – now gathered together for their first official release – are credited with helping catalyse the Springsteen legend.
And yet they were in many ways atypical, with each gig clocking in at just 90 minutes (rather than Springsteen’s standard three hours). They also, in their recorded form, have a ragged energy, with Springsteen and band sounding as if they were constantly teetering on collapse.
That majestically chaotic quality brings a sense of danger to the performance, as Springsteen and the E-Street Band plough through highlights from Born To Run (Jungleland, Thunder Road) and Darkness at the Edge of Town (the show begins with the one-two of Prove It All Night and Badlands).
Springsteen was at the time recording The River at Power Station in nearby Hell’s Kitchen and, ahead of its release in October 1980, fans were given a taste of what was to follow with the title track and Sherry Darling. Most resounding of all, however, is Born To Run, which comes to life in all its anthemic glory. This was Peak Bruce firing on all gaskets.
The “No Nukes” residency was a fundraiser for Musician United For Safe Energy, an activist group founded that year by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt (who also all played the Madison Square Garden dates – when the crowd started yelling “Bruce” Raitt though they were shouting “Boo”).
Yet Springsteen is more intent on rocking than sermonising and the 14 songs assembled on this new release capture an artist approaching the height of their powers. And alongside the audio recordings, the reissue includes a DVD of the show.
Under the spotlight, Springsteen grooves like a rocker possessed. He is raw, unvarnished, his voice an impassioned rasp. Fans will consider it a Christmas must-have.
