E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg will be back on the tube tomorrow night (Friday, April 1st), when he returns to the CBS crime drama Blue Bloods.
“Mighty Max” spoke to Backstreets.com and revealed, “I'll be appearing on CBS-TV's Blue Bloods series, reprising for the third time my role as gangster Mario Vangelis. In this episode, (titled) 'Hidden Motive', Vangelis has been released from his two-year country club prison bid, sporting a deep tan and more than ready to continue his nefarious activities.”
Weinberg went on to say, “I had a blast again working on this production. Bridget Moynihan — for 12 seasons, the lovely and talented star of the show as Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan — made her directorial debut with this episode and totally nailed it. I have two scenes pivotal to the arc of the series centered around the developing relationship between Erin and Vangelis.” Blue Bloods airs on CBS on Fridays at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. Central.
Changing topics, Weinberg touched upon the war in Ukraine, explaining, “On a more personal note: as an American Jew of Russian (now Belarus) descent, I and my family join the rest of the world in condemning the brutal actions of the Kremlin butcher (Vladimir) Putin as he soullessly wages his horrifying, heartbreaking, and criminal assault on the people of Ukraine. The murder of babies, the wanton destruction of homes, the tears of millions of refugees — it's just appalling.”
Weinberg went on to say, “Tragic episodes in history unfortunately and unfailingly repeat themselves. For me, with memories seared into my soul by my elders (in our very large, extended family during the 1950's) of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi madman and his evil regime, this feels like a present-day version of 1939. Our hearts are broken, and — speaking for Becky, Ali, Jay, and their spouses — we pray this unholy action ceases now. Slava Ukrani!”
Max Weinberg, who currently performs with his Max Weinberg's Jukebox covers band, told us that despite all the musical hats he's worn — as the drummer for the E Street Band, Conan O'Brien, along with his own orchestra — if he's behind the drums, it's all the same: “I've never changed my perspective a bit in pretty much my entire musical life. With whether it was in a TV studio, or a recording studio, stadium stage, arena — what have you; as long as I play, I'm in touch with the core of myself.”
Max Weinberg's Jukebox kicks off its next string of dates on May 11th in Pawling, New York at Daryl's House.