Max Weinberg and his band don’t rehearse before shows. They don’t need to; they’ve “been rehearsing for it all our lives,” Weinberg says. The drummer is best known from Bruce Springsteen’s primary backing band, E Street Band, and for his time as the bandleader on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He’s bringing his show, Max Weinberg’s Jukebox, to The Barns at Wolf Trap this month. Here, he shares what he loves about the music and performing.
This post originally appeared in our November 2019 issue. Want more fun things to do? Subscribe to our newsletters.
Max Weinberg’s Jukebox is a show where the audience chooses the set list. Tell us about that.
I refer to it as a party, not a concert. In this show, the audience gets to pick the song list, which is a much different spin on rock and roll performances. It came about two-and-a-half years ago in Chicago. We played a show with a set list for about an hour and people wanted more. I said, “Well, what do you want to hear?” And they would call out a song, and we played it. So, we created a revolving list of about 250 songs that guests can pick from.
How do you rehearse for a show formatted like this?
We’ve been rehearsing for it all our lives. When you grow up in New Jersey when we did, the mandate for the bars you would play in was to play Top 40 music. You had to learn everything that was on the radio. So, we don’t rehearse. We just know these songs that we have.
What about performing never gets old for you?
Playing the drums! The drums never get old. When I sit down and play the drums, I am 14 years old again. I’ve managed to stay very much in tune with the heart of that 14-year-old kid that still lives down inside me, despite everything else that’s gone on the last 68 years.
Nov. 8, 8 p.m.; The Barns at Wolf Trap: 1635 Trap Road, Vienna; tickets begin at $52
