Top 11 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Englewood
by themoneyoffice2.com@gmail.com March 8, 2024 · Concerts
As March and its jam-packed lineup of local events continues, it’ll be a star-studded week of live music in Sarasota and Manatee counties, including two musicians with No. 1 hits spanning the ’50s to the ’80s playing Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and a TV star bringing his musical act to Venice Performing Arts Center.
Other notable shows taking place this week will include a rising indie rock band with ties to Bradenton and a cigar box guitar festival in Sarasota. As with most weeks in Sarasota-Manatee, blues fans will find multiple Blues Music Award-winning or nominated acts at local venues, with folk, world music, jazz, pop and rock also represented in this concert picks installment. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.
More things to do this week:Top 5 fun events in Sarasota and Bradenton this weekend
100-plus fun things to do in Marchin Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Punta Gorda
Ticket Newsletter:Sign up to receive restaurant news and reviews plus info on things to do every Friday
Camp Trash
Indie rock band Camp Trash, whose singer Bryan Gorman lives in Bradenton, will return to the Friendly City’s own Oscura this weekend. The group previously played the venue during a release show for their 2022 debut album “The Long Way, The Slow Way,” which was released by Michigan-based label Count Your Lucky Stars Records, also earning national exposure from outlets such as Stereogum and touring with bands such as Spanish Love Songs. Camp Trash, who will soon record their second album in Portland, Oregon, will perform with Cherish This, The Pilot Waves, Radaghast and Charlie. 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show Friday; Oscura, 816 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton; $10; 941-201-4950; oscura.live
Zoë Lewis
Fogartyville’s live music lineup this week will include “band in a body” Zoë Lewis, earning the moniker for playing instruments ranging from the piano to the spoons, and genres from jazz to worldbeat. Originally from the U.K. and now based in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Lewis has released albums including 2004’s “Small is Tremendous,” on Judy Collins’ label Wildflower. She’s also shared the stage with other musicians such as Collins, the Indigo Girls and Pat Benatar, opening for the latter on ukulele. Roxanne Layton will also perform. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Friday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $22, $18 members, $11 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
BélO
The Ringling’s Art of Performance series will continue with Haitian singer-songwriter BélO, as part of its season celebration of artists from Francophone countries. The musician’s sound blends jazz, worldbeat, rock, reggae and Afro-Haitian traditional rhythms in a style he calls “Ragganga.” He made his debut with 2005’s “Lakou Trankil” and has released music ever since, most recently last year’s cover album “Fanm Lakou Trankil” featuring different women musicians on each track. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota; $30-$40; 941-360-7399; ringling.org
Tony Danza
Best known for his roles on the TV shows “Taxi” and “Who’s the Boss?” (and more recently, “The Good Cop” and “Power Book III: Raising Kanan”), Tony Danza also performs live with a four-piece band in a show titled “Standards & Stories.” He returns with the show to Venice Performing Arts Center, where he’s appeared in the past along with Sarasota Opera House. As its name suggests, the show features Danza performing standards from the Great American Songbook and sharing stories about his life and personal connection to the music, with “a dash of soft shoe and ukulele performances.” 7 p.m. Saturday; Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Ave., Venice; $40-$106; 941-218-0627; veniceperformingartscenter.com
Sarasota Cigar Box Guitar Festival
After Bradenton’s Village of the Arts hosted a cigar box guitar festival last month, another festival celebrating the instrument will take place at Sarasota’s Big Top Brewing Company. Shane Speal — whose credentials include opening the Cigar Box Guitar Museum, writing the book “Making Poor Man’s Guitars: Cigar Box Guitars, the Frying Pan Banjo and Other DIY Instruments,” and appearing in the documentary “Songs Inside the Box” — is among those set to perform along with John Nickel, who opened Nickel Cigar Box Guitars and Cigar Box Sound Studio. Sarasota’s The Garbage-Men and Bradenton’s Steve Arvey will also perform. Noon Saturday; Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; free, $15 reserved seating up front; 941-371-2939; bigtopbrewing.com
Paul Anka
Paul Anka will return to Van Wezel this week on his Seven Decades Tour, celebrating the 82-year-old singer-songwriter’s lengthy career. That includes No. 1 hit singles from the ’50s through the ’70s including “Diana,” “Lonely Boy” and the duet “(You’re) Having My Baby” with Odia Coates, along with other hits such as “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “Puppy Love.” Anka has also written or co-written some other musicians’ best-known songs, such as “She’s a Lady” for Tom Jones, “This is It” for Michael Jackson, and the English-language lyrics to the track “My Way,” immortalized by Frank Sinatra. 7 p.m. Sunday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $85-$135; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
The Black Feathers
After playing Sarasota’s Fogartyville in 2022, folk duo The Black Feathers will return to the area for another show at Venice’s Troll Music. The pair comprising husband-and-wife songwriters Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler is based in the U.K. but performs in the U.S. regularly, with their 2023 album “Where We Are” opening with a cover of Willie Nelson’s tribute to touring “On the Road Again.” The year before, they released “Angel Dust & Cyanide,” featuring originals as well as a twangy cover of Portishead’s classic “Glory Box” as its lead single. 7 p.m. Sunday; Troll Music, 628 E. Venice Ave., Venice; $20; 941-484-8765; trollmusic.com
Daniel Bennett Group
New York saxophonist Daniel Bennett and his band will perform at Sarasota’s First United Methodist Church this weekend as part of its Jazz at First Church series. The concert will also serve as a release show for the group’s new album “Mr. Bennett’s Mind,” which is set to be released March 15. Bennett, who is also associate director of the New York Jazz Academy in Times Square and played woodwinds in “Blank! The Musical,” will perform with drummer and keyboardist Koko Bermejo and six-string electric bassist Kevin Hailey. 4:30 p.m. Sunday; First United Methodist Church, 104 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota; free admission; 941-955-0935; firstsrq.com
Anthony Geraci and the Boston Blues Allstars
After winning his latest Blues Music Award last year, and before releasing his newest album “Tears in My Eyes” on April 19, blues pianist Anthony Geraci and his band the Boston Blues Allstars will play a show at Bradenton’s Birdrock Taco Shack. In 2023, Geraci earned his second Instrumentalist — Piano (Pinetop Perkins Piano Player) award, which he previously won in 2021, while the group was nominated for Band of the Year. Geraci and the band have been nominated in those two categories multiple times before as well, along with nominations for Album of the Year, Song of the Year and more. 7 p.m. Tuesday; Birdrock Taco Shack, 1213 13th Ave. W., Bradenton; 941-545-9966; facebook.com/birdrocktaco
Rick Springfield
Also returning to Van Wezel this week will be pop rock musician Rick Springfield, who rose to fame with his 1981 platinum-selling album “Working Class Dog” and its Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male Grammy-winning No. 1 hit single “Jessie’s Girl,” which later memorably appeared in the movie “Boogie Nights.” (Springfield has also appeared onscreen himself in films including the late Oscar-winning director and former Floridian Jonathan Demme’s “Ricki and the Flash,” acting opposite Meryl Streep, and TV shows such as “True Detective.”) Besides a roughly 10-year break from the late ’80s to the late ’90s, Springfield has continued to regularly release new albums, most recently last year’s “Automatic.” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $70-$90; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
Tas Cru
Syracuse, New York-based blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Tas Cru will visit our area this week for shows at Englewoods on Dearborn and Cottonmouth. The musician’s releases include 2016’s “Simmered & Stewed,” which earned a Blues Music Awards nomination for Best Emerging Artist Album, and last year’s “Riffin’ the Blue,” featuring special guests Mike Zito and Bruce Katz. According to his website, he also has the live album “Tas Cru Band All Natural Cage-Free and Fan-Fed Live” currently available on CD at shows only. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $7; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearnborn.com; 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $10; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
If you would like to be considered for this story, please submit your event to tinyurl.com/SubmitEventHeraldTribune at least 10 days before our Thursday publication date.
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
