Max and Jay Weinberg Drum Together for First Time

Max Weinberg's son Jay was a fixture on the recently-wrapped Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tour, often taking over for a few songs behind the drum kit even when dad was in the house. But when Jay would give dad a break, Mighty Max would head over to the side of the stage or backstage to play the role of proud dad. The two never shared the stage together until Friday, Jan. 8 when they made their live debut together at Guitar Center's Drum-Off in Los Angeles.

Before their coming out party, Jay Weinberg told Spinner that not only was this their live debut, it was the first time they played as a tandem act. "My dad and I have never sat at two drum kits next to each other our whole lives, never done it before," he said. "It is gonna be the first time anybody's ever seen us at two drum kits before. It's amazing."

So they never even played together at home? "Nope. We didn't have two drum sets," Jay said. "It's fascinating to me to see, I guess through genetics, how I've kind of adapted a little bit of his style. I have immense respect for my dad as a drummer, and as my father."

On this night he shared the stage with a lot of other guys he had equal respect for, being invited by Tommy Lee and Street Drum Corps' Frank Zummo to be a part of their 'Bezerk' production alongside the likes of Chad Smith and Matt Sorum. Weinberg admitted to having some nerves. "It's a whole mess of talent on that stage and I'm shaking in my sneakers thinking I'm gonna be playing after Billy Cobham and Jason [Bonham] and Danny [Carey of Tool]."

Being asked to be a part of this kind of event offers some validation for the younger Weinberg in that he knows he made the right career choice. Despite his father's legacy, Jay had another line of work in mind growing up. "I used to be a hockey goalie, I played for six years. I loved that. I wanted to be in the NHL, still do," he said.

So how did drumming win out? "It came to a point where I'd have to pick hockey or drums, be half-assed at both or excel at one and I just gravitated towards the drums," he said. "And then when things started snowballing, getting into more bands, developing my technique, playing with the E Street Band, it kind of set in my mind, 'Yeah, this is something I could do.'"

We're sure dad and plenty of others would agree.