Jay Weinberg: Slipknot's '09 Show at MSG Was 'Huge Step Forward'

Slipknot‘s latest live release, Live at MSG, captures their first-ever headlining performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Feb. 5, 2009. Even though drummer Jay Weinberg didn’t join the band until 2014, this particular concert holds a really special place in his history with Slipknot.

“I was at that show—at that point, I had kind of started my own sort of trajectory playing music,” Weinberg explained to Chuck Armstrong on Friday night’s edition of Loudwire Nights (Aug. 18). “I was starting to become incredibly active in music myself, playing with Bruce [Springsteen] and the E Street Band at the time. I think my first full show with them was only a couple of months after [Slipknot played Madison Square Garden].”

Slipknot’s massive show in New York City was far from the first time Weinberg caught them live. In fact, the very first time Weinberg saw Slipknot was at Ozzfest 2001; a year before that, they made their network television debut on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, the show for which Weinberg’s dad, Max, served as the bandleader.

“He was like, ‘Oh my god, you guys are crazy, my kids are going to love you,'” Weinberg recalled about his dad’s experience seeing Slipknot perform “Wait and Bleed” on Feb. 25, 2000. “It’s a testament to [Slipknot’s] kindness, they were like, ‘Alright, anytime you want your family to come out to a show, bring your kids out.’ They extended that invitation.”

Weinberg was 10 years old when he first saw Slipknot at Ozzfest, something he admitted to Chuck “completely blew my mind and opened me up to what music could be.”

“At that point, probably the heaviest thing I really listened to was The Who‘s Quadrophenia. This put everything else into a new context for me. I’m still trying to figure stuff out at 10 years old and that really just put me on a path of, ‘Oh my god, there’s this whole other world out there that I’ve never known before.'”

The Significance of Slipknot Playing Madison Square Garden

As Weinberg reflected on his history with Slipknot as a fan, he was excited to tell Chuck how important the band’s headlining gig at Madison Square Garden was—not just for Slipknot, but for the metal community at large.

“I remember distinctly as a fan, feeling like our community had scored one for the good guys,” he explained about seeing Slipknot at the Garden. “That was a huge thing for the culture … It was a huge step forward for a band that crazy to finally get a swing at headlining Madison Square Garden [and it] felt like a huge shift as a fan base and for everyone who had supported the band up until that point.”

Weinberg called the show in 2009 a huge accomplishment that a lot of bands don’t get to experience; the fact that it’s forever immortalized now with the Live at MSG release led him to say it’s a “flag-waving moment” for Slipknot and their fans.

“You get to stand atop Mount Madison Square Garden and say, ‘We’re here.'”

What Else Did Slipknot’s Jay Weinberg Discuss on Loudwire Nights

What it’s like connecting with his dad through “high stakes rock and roll” and why they love talking about music together: “Something we’ve been able to share with each other is just the life that we both seemingly chose.”
Why his favorite songs to play with Slipknot constantly change—and why “Duality” will always be an incredibly special song to him
With so many achievements already in their career, Weinberg shares what his own goals for the band look like: “We played the entire Iowa album…personally, I’d like to experience that for all the records. That’s quite a cumbersome challenge, but we could set up for a week at a venue and play a record a night.”