Weinberg tells his story of a dream

By Mike Caputo

Growing up, Max Weinberg had a dream — to be a drummer.

Weinberg, known for his work as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and as band leader of the Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, detailed the road it took to make that dream a reality to a large audience at the Bart Luedeke Center (BLC) Theater on Monday, Oct. 17.

“I knew no matter what, to get to my dream, it started with that first step,” Weinberg said. “You have to work toward that goal with whatever you get.”

At “An Evening with Max Weinberg,” sponsored by the Student Entertainment Council (SEC) the program opened with a short film highlighting his funny moments on Late Night and a special video introduction by Conan O’Brien. Weinberg then went on to explain his early interest and dedication toward music and illustrated it with a video about his childhood and adolescence.

“Those early bands were so much fun; we did everything by instinct,” said Weinberg, in the video.

During the video, Weinberg admitted that his career with Bruce Springsteen actually started with a small advertisement in a newspaper.

“I still can’t believe I hooked up with Bruce on an ad,” he said. “Bruce set the pace and like magic, it fell into place.”

Weinberg continued to discuss his life chronologically. According to Weinberg, his interest in music began when he watched Elvis Presley and the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. He then talked about his experience with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band between the years of 1974 and 1989.

“A band is a fraternity or bond experience,” Weinberg said.

In the band’s infancy, it made rough tours in Springsteen’s 1965 Chevrolet with a U-Haul trailer in the back. After the album Born to Run came out in 1975, the band’s peak years began, insinuating a “chain of events” that resulted in what he called “pretty wild times.”

When he got the phone call in 1989 that the band would be breaking up, Weinberg’s life appeared to come crashing down.

“I was shocked when it happened; it was over,” he said. “The first six months was painful. I went to great lengths to deny that Bruce broke up with the E Street Band.”

After his illustrious career with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took an abrupt halt, Weinberg said that he “looked in a new direction” in his life. He took it upon himself to reinstate into Seton Hall University and finish up the 21 credits needed to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. Weinberg then went to Cardozo College’s law school in the Spring of 1990, but bailed out in favor of other things. He then broke into the music business, and there was a point where he forgot about his original dream.

“The last thing I wanted to do again was play the drums,” said Weinberg.
That mindset changed when he got a temporary gig with Natalie Merchant’s band, 10,000 Maniacs. He then realized that he was meant to play the drums. Weinberg said he met Conan O’Brien on the streets of Manhattan one day – the rest is history.

“I believe that Max’s message reached many individuals, especially those who did not know that much about him going into the presentation,” said sophomore SEC Lectures Chair Kerry Hawkins, organizer of the event. “From the questions and comments presented to him at the end it seemed that the students gained a great deal from his message.”