Watch: Bill Murray and Blood Brothers Kick Off Mini-Tour in Chicago with “Like a Rolling Stone”

Photo Credit: Eric Kabik

On January 3 and 4, Bill Murray took the stage at Chicago’s Thalia Hall to kick off a six-stop mini tour with his Blood Brothers, Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia. For their tour-opener, the legendary actor and comedian and the pair of vaunted blues powerhouses proved a truly singular combination, with entertainer lending his croon to some crowd-pleasing covers between impressive full-band blues sets.

Though Murray figured prominently in the bill for the evenings at Thalia Hall and the performance commenced with a montage of some of his most memorable on-screen moments, the actor was hardly the sole focus of last weekend’s Blood Brothers shows. Zito and Castiglia, both tremendously accomplished instrumentalists and name brands in blues, led an impressive band through a soul-stirring blues-rock mix, matching genre staples with unexpected twists like a surprisingly natural blues reimagining of Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” For a significant portion on the shows, Murray could be seen seated at the back of the stage, where he jammed along with the band with percussion additions like the bongos, shakers and cowbell.

The highlights of the series opening shows arrived when Murray sauntered to the front of the stage and commanded the spotlight for an eclectic mix of covers. Among the entries coolly delivered by Murray’s gravelly tenor were Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” The Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting” and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s regional classic “Born in Chicago,” which saluted the comedian’s roots in The Windy City. The frontman’s oddball, half-earnest, half-parodic vocal delivery was best demonstrated by his cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” which surged from a raspy growl to a rallying chant at the chorus. Watch fan-recorded videos of the performance below.

True devotees to Murray may have caught the roots of his Blood Brothers collaboration in September, when the entertainer joined Zito and Castiglia for a sit-in during Big Blues Bender’s HART Party benefit in Las Vegas. Then, the band premiered their cover of the Dylan classic and covered Larry Williams’ “Slow Down.” Castiglia related the moment to another star-crossing, saying, “This is gonna be damn better than when Dennis Rodman sat in with me 10 years ago in Fort Lauderdale. I seriously considered a career change after that. It was Pearl Jam, and ‘We Want the Funk.’ It ran for 45 minutes, and he gave me a noogie.”

Murray and his Blood Brothers will perform next at SF Sketchfest in San Francsisco on Jan. 29 and 30. The combo will stop by Atlanta’s famed Variety Playhouse on Feb. 7, then deliver a Valentine’s Day set alongside Jimmy Vivino at Port Chester, N.Y.’s The Capitol Theater and a showing at New York’s Sony Hall on the following evening. Further engagements in Texas, Iowa, Saint Louis and Louisville, Ky. will continue through October. For tickets and more information, visit bloodbrothersband.com.