Max Weinberg - Move To The Tonight Show

Move To The Tonight Show

The ending of the Conan Late Night and beginning of The Tonight Show coincided with the start of Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2009 Working on a Dream Tour. O'Brien told a Variety reporter at the time of the announcement that he hoped that Weinberg would follow him to Los Angeles and that he also hoped an arrangement could be worked out to let Weinberg go on the road with Springsteen as had been done for past tours.

Whether Weinberg would stay with O'Brien and move or not became a subject of conflicting news reports. Weinberg did and does have strong New Jersey and East Coast ties. He lives on the New Jersey shore with his wife and children, and he still enjoys going to temple. He and his family are fans of the New Jersey Devils, and played ice hockey on the 2-acre (8,100 m2) pond in front of their house. They were season ticket holders for the Devils until the children became too old and busy to attend games. Their son Jay had, without much instruction from his father but using Max's old gear, become a drummer for local punk rock and metal bands. Their daughter Ali became an assistant to NBC News reporter Chuck Todd and began appearing on their MSNBC.com blog "First Read". Weinberg played drums on the first album recorded by his sister Nancy Winston, a professional pianist and singer in New York City, known for her regular appearances at Cafe Pierre.

Nevertheless, O'Brien confirmed on February 18, 2009, that Weinberg and the band were indeed coming with him. Weinberg had not missed an E Street Band show since joining the outfit in 1974, and E Streeter Van Zandt said that no amount of rehearsal by another drummer could replace Weinberg's intuitive understanding of Springsteen's performance gambits.

The conflict was resolved when son Jay became a substitute drummer for his father during parts of the Working on a Dream Tour that Max could not make due to commitments to the O'Brien show. Springsteen said, "Once again, I want to express my appreciation to Conan O'Brien, and everyone on his team, for making it possible for Max to continue to do double duty for both us and for him. We promise to return him in one piece." The younger Weinberg began playing during segments of the tour's shows, and got a very positive response from audiences and reviewers as a spark plug for the band. Max Weinberg said Jay's segments allowed him a "total out-of-body experience. For the first time in – I've been with Bruce for 35 years – I've been able to go out in the audience and enjoy a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert." In one case, Jay did one show of a two-night stand on the East Coast and Max then took a red-eye flight back from Los Angeles to do the second.

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien premiered on June 1, 2009, with The Max Weinberg 7 now expanded to eight and referred to as Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band. Andy Richter was back as an announcer, making Weinberg's role as a foil a little uncertain. Gradually Weinberg and the band's roles in the comic aspects of the show began to assert themselves. On June 25, Weinberg departed The Tonight Show temporarily for four weeks to join Springsteen and band part-way through their European leg; this was conveyed on the show via a comedy bit that had his drum riser turn into a float that took him outside the studio and purportedly to the airport. Weinberg returned to the show on August 3, after flying back from a Springsteen show that had ended early into the same morning in Spain. Of being Tonight Show bandleader, he said, "I think one of the biggest thrills in my life was seeing my name in the same sentence as Doc Severinsen, who, in my view, is the gold standard for 'Tonight Show' bandleaders. There's never been anyone who did it quite near the class and the brilliance of Doc Severinsen in the original Tonight Show Band. I used to think when I was a kid what a great job that must be – you know, same place, every time, everyday. Lo and behold, here I am 40 years later, doing it. That sounds deep, deep, deep, deep, deeply satisfying to me." On September 25, Weinberg left The Tonight Show again for two months, to join Springsteen and band for the final, American portion of the Working on a Dream Tour. The same drum-riser-to-float comedy bit was used, except this time the float was "hit" and demolished by a truck just outside the studio (and airing of the segment was delayed a few days due to O'Brien legitimately injuring himself during the same show). The tour wrapped on November 22, 2009, in Buffalo, New York; Weinberg was back on The Tonight Show the next day. With no E Street Band projects in sight for at least the next year or two, Weinberg was left to concentrate on his bandleader role.

Even though Weinberg was living in Los Angeles for The Tonight Show, he retained his home in New Jersey and considered that his permanent residence: "I'm not really moving. I'm living out here, but it's more like an extended road trip." Regarding his decision to stay in music rather than pursue the legal profession, he has had no regrets: "The world needs more drummers and fewer lawyers."

However, Weinberg's stint as Tonight Show bandleader was not to last long. The 2010 Tonight Show host and timeslot conflict erupted, and after an intense period of public turmoil, the last Conan show took place on January 22, 2010, finishing with Weinberg propelling a guest-filled seriocomic rendition of "Free Bird". While O'Brien negotiated a settlement deal with NBC for himself and his staff, Weinberg as well as sidekick Richter had to reach their own agreements with the network.