Happy blues romp with Bobby Kyle and Scott Weis at the Milford Theater

When Bill Rosado was informed that 10,000 Maniacs had to cancel their sold-out show scheduled for the opening night of the Milford Music Festival because of illness, he called upon his boyhood buddy, Bobby Kyle, and his friend Scott Weis to save the day. Both Kyle and Weis pulled agreed to do the show, even though they each had their own shows scheduled for the next day in the Music Festival. They called their act, “Scott Weis and Bobby Kyle Present Blues Review.” Rosado said he wanted to show his gratitude, and made this a free concert for the community.

The word went out on social media, by phone calls, and word of mouth. The Courier also had a story about this show which was put together in basically two days. The theater was almost full, with an enthusiastic crowd familiar with these well-known performers-both Blues Hall of Fame musicians.

“The impromptu concert was an impressive start to the Music Fest,” said Eileen Smith. “It was obvious the love these men have for their music and their town. The crowd loved every minute.”

Kyle and Weis have known each other for years and they each have their own bands. Kyle said he had played with Weis’s band a few times, but this was the first time Weis played with Kyle’s band, “The Administers” (Linwood Taylor on guitar, Marc Copell on drums, Everett Boyd, bass guitar, and David Keyes, piano/keyboard).

The musicians riffed with each other, and Kyle and Weis had a symbiotic musical connection. The new sound system in the theater projected the sound perfectly, engulfing the theater.

“I felt as if we were actually inside the sound,” said one attendee.

There was lots of audience interaction, whether it was clapping to the beat, or doing call and response. The reverberation of the audience moving to the beat of the music was matched by the actual vibration coming from the musicians. After about an hour of this high energy interaction, Bobby shouted out to Bill Rosado, “Is it OK to keep going?” And, of course, Bill’s answer was, “Yes.” The musicians were having as much fun as the audience.

At the end of the concert, Bobby called Bill Rosado to the stage to thank him for the beautiful theater. Bobby said, “I grew up with Billy. We played together as kids.” It was obvious that that friendship and love is still there. Later, in a quiet corner of the theater as people were leaving, Scott said, quietly “This [concert] happened because Bobby and I have no ego and Bobby and Bill are the same way.” Bill smiled shyly.