Bill Murray is a man of great taste, that’s well known by now. He’s appeared in a film with Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and GZA, shared a stage with Eric Clapton and even hung out with Leeds punks Eagulls (who got a tattoo especially to mark the occasion).
The celebrated actor also likes to mix it with the general public – and these moments, as well as urban legends regarding his prank antics, are becoming even more well known in this increasingly digitalised age.
Now, just like Danny DeVito before him at last year’s Coachella, Murray has has been checking out some new bands at SXSW. And, like much of what Murray does, it’s been frantically documented by tweet-happy strangers.
You didn’t even have to be at the Austin festival to piece together what acts Murray stumbled upon. So just in case the ‘Ghostbusters’ man is suffering from a post-festival hangover-induced bout of amnesia, here’s all the gigs he frequented. Sure, ‘Chill Murray’ didn’t serve punters shots like he did at the 2010 fest, but he still managed to cause a storm either way.
Girlpool
The true spirit of SXSW is to find new music and your future favourite band and Girlpool could very well have been that band for Murray. The LA duo release their debut album ‘Before The World Was Big’ on June 1, so they had heaps of fresh material to display. Murray seemed so enamoured with the pair that he even asked the head of their label, Wichita, to “get out of the way” so he could get a “better view”. Now that’s what you call a cosign.
Ummm Bill Murray just asked me to get of the way so he had a better view of @girlpoolband I can go home now
— wichitarecs (@wichitarecs) March 21, 2015
Best Coast
An unmistakable sign of fandom is rushing to the front to see your favourite band. The mark of celebrity fandom, however, is an illustrious spot at the side of the stage. That’s exactly where Murray pitched up for Best Coast, who release their third album ‘California Nights’ on May 5. The band tweeted after the show: “Bill Murray is our best friend now”. We really want this to become true.
https://instagram.com/p/0hRVanscK5/
Ghostface Killah
Bill Murray’s friendship with Wu-Tang Clan is one of our favourite actor-and-rapper friendship. It’s up there with Wale and Jerry Seinfeld‘s love-in. We can only presume that RZA phoned Murray up on hearing that he was in Austin and told him to check out his pal Ghostface. Even Bill Murray couldn’t say no to RZA.
badbadnotgood + ghostface killah, to my front
bill murray, to my left? // #HouseOfVans #sxsw pic.twitter.com/j3WE0eiciR
— matt king (@MattrKing) March 21, 2015
The Zombies
The Zombies may have been going since 1961 but even the veteran St Albans band couldn’t resist a photo with Bill Murray after he checked out their show at South-By. No matter how many gigs you’ve played, when Murray rocks up, the show is definitely going to be one of your career highlights.
The Black Angels
Bill Murray sightings became so frequent at SXSW that if he wasn’t at the gig you were at then you worried something better was going on. This must have been the feeling of every other band who clashed with Texas psych-rockers The Black Angels.
You know you're at the right show at #SXSW when #BillMurray shows up! ? hi love you! ❤️ @theblackangels #PandoraSXSW
— mylifeinsound (@mylifeinsound) March 22, 2015
Folk Alliance
It appears that Murray also showed up at the showcase of Folk Alliance, a conference dedicated to folk music and singer-songwriters. If this tweet (below) is anything to go by, the actor dodged the bouncer and snuck into the gig. Murray does what he wants.
Sneakin in? Bill Murray just came to the @folkalliance concert in the back room @threadgills @sxsw pic.twitter.com/K6YhVxHqV3
— Cash Edwards (@cashedwards) March 21, 2015
The Philistines
Perhaps the smallest band Murray saw all weekend was Kansas City band The Philistines. He clearly loved them though, posing for a photo with the group after their set. According to the band’s Facebook, he also “gave us a standing ovation and tried to buy our album”. They didn’t let him pay for it, though.
Bill Murray, in Texas for SXSW, hearts KC band the Philistines:… http://t.co/S6q4cHxM17 Local Weekly Paper pic.twitter.com/gM6CdrL7JW
— LocalWeeklyPaper (@LocalNewsWeekly) March 22, 2015