PHOTOS: Star-Studded Anti-Nuke Concert Educated and Entertained

Under a clear blue Bay Area sky, dozens of artists from across musical genres like Bonnie Raitt, Crosby Still & Nash, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Jason Mraz rocked on Sunday with one goal in mind—end the use of nuclear energy.

"I came because of the entertainment and also because we gotta make big changes in our country and the world," said David Lee, who with his wife had made the trip down from Russian River. "We need to use solar more, wind, anything but nuclear."

Like Lee, thousands of people came to Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre for the second benefit concert. The first M.U.S.E. concert took place in 1979 at New York City's Madison Square Garden during the height of the anti-nuclear protests in the United States. Many of the same artists this past Aug. 7–Raitt, Jackson Brown, Sweet Honey, Crosby Still & Nash–had performed at that original concert and wanted to continue the advocacy against nuclear energy.

Seated in section 101 row C, Sherel Hayes drove up from San Jose to catch the acts–especially the Doobie Brothers–but the message of the concert was just as important a reason.

"I came to support a stop to nuclear warfare. We realize how dangerous it is and how important solar is," said Hayes. "We got solutions now. As long as there are solutions, there shouldn't be any complaints."

Her boyfriend, Bob Petit added that countries like Germany have already shut down their nuclear power plants.

"Especially after Japan, we should seize the moment and remember the people of Japan," he said, in reference to the Mar. 11, 2011 earthquake that cause radiation to leak from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants.

Between songs, Grammy award-winning artist Tom Morello blamed corporate America for "caring more about their short-term profit margin" than the needs of the people and the planet. That and similar messages from the artists resonated with San Francisco's John Masters.

"Green technlogy is America's future," said Masters seated in row V. "Lobbyist for big oil companies that are opposed to alternative forms of energy want to continue in what they are doing for as long as possible at the expense of destroying the planet."

Master's showed off a card he received from one of the booths at the "Green Village," where anti-nuclear organizations and renewable energy advocates talked about their efforts. This group, Sirona, wanted to build solar panels in Haiti and also plant trees.

Corinna and Ken Kaufman, seated in row O, also did a little networking of their own. They got the business card of Aileen Miyoko Smith, who works with the Green Action Network in Japan, to see what they could do locally.

"I want [Ken] to produce shows similar to this and raise money, spread the word," said Corinna, who drove down from Novato.

But they came to have a good time, too.

"It's fantastic," she said about the show. "Absolutely fantastic."

The combination of artists also pleased M.J. Rubio from Alameda. He danced straight and raised his hands up through every Doobie Brothers song.

"Doobie was a crowd pleaser. They really got the crowd-going," Rubio said, from a few rows back. "It's a great mixture of old and young acts, like Jason Mraz, who's not just a typical pop singer. He was very talented."

Robin Johnson, who lives in Hawaii but happened to be in the Bay Area, decided to purchase tickets because she loves Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.

"I never mind spending money for concerts like this because it's for a benefit," she said, from her seat in row N. "It's like a mini-Woodstock."