Back off man, he’s a musician: Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers perform in Boston – The Boston Globe

Bill Murray, comedy great and wise guy of the century, was almost a doctor. True story: a young Murray was on a pre-med track at Regis University, right up until he was caught packing 10 pounds of pot at an airport, and dropped out of school before the powers that be had the chance to expel him. The arrest sent him home to Chicago and into the kooky realm of comedy. One iconic “Saturday Night Live” stint and countless films and classic lines later — “back off man, I’m a scientist” comes to mind — and it’s apparent that his impromptu career change panned out just fine.

But Murray would have been just as well-served to pivot to a different sector of the entertainment industry, as his show at Boston’s House of Blues demonstrated Thursday night. On tour as Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers, the 75-year-old actor and his band skillfully stormed through a selection of covers, seemingly for no other reason than a love of their craft.

On the band’s website, Murray’s billed as the group’s lead singer, and his flair for the dramatic serves him well as a shimmying, shuddering frontman. But if someone at the House of Blues were none the wiser about the older gentleman in the beanie and button-up shirt, he’d seem like an unassuming bandmate who was content to cede center stage for half of the performance. Of the evening’s 12 songs, Murray only took the lead on half of them, and otherwise happily cycled through instruments at a percussion station of sorts, complete with chimes, a cowbell, a shaker, a pair of congas, and a mic for backing vocals.

He didn’t even approach the front of the stage to sing lead until the third song, Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” a pick that allowed Murray to ham up the chorus’ howls. Whenever he took a back seat and returned to his instruments, Murray’s core bandmates — guitarists Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia, and Jimmy Vivino — took the lead for blues-soaked covers of song such as Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” plus an original by Zito and Castiglia called “In My Soul.”

The only guests who were likely to have walked away disappointed Thursday night were those who thought they’d bought tickets to a novelty act in the vein of Murray’s SNL character Nick the Lounge Singer. Ever the entertainer, the actor didn’t shy away from his fine-tuned ability to warp his face and voice, but Murray wasn’t kidding around.

“I love your city,” he told the crowd. “I’ve been here a lot of times. I’ve made a lot of friends. Some are here tonight, some are gone. We’re gonna play tonight for the ones that are gone, OK?”

When Murray sang “Like A Rolling Stone,” he didn’t ask “how does it feel?”, he bellowed it, arguably with more conviction than the original. His exuberant rendition of Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309 / Jenny,” which felt like a shared karaoke session between Murray and the equally eager crowd, warranted a quick spin from the House of Blues’s disco ball, as did a cover of the Stephen Stills song “Love the One You’re With” that tapped in Cape Ann musician Juliet Hawkins as a singing partner.

If that sounds like a celebrity seeking a quick check, or a restless actor desperate to branch out, I’d advise you to buy a ticket, see for yourself, and back off, man.

This guy’s a musician.

BILL MURRAY & HIS BLOOD BROTHERS

With the Jimmy Carpenter Band. At the House of Blues, Thursday

Victoria Wasylak can be reached at victoria.wasylak@globe.com. Follow her on Bluesky at VickiWasylak.bsky.social.