09-05-2025
Top 8 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Anna Maria Island, Siesta Key, Englewood
Things are starting to slow down a bit in the Sarasota area as we reach the middle of May, including the local concert calendar. Even still, this week will offer a full-fledged music festival, with a free daylong concert at downtown Sarasota's Five Points Park featuring acts from Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, as well as Florida.
Other out-of-town musicians will include a New York City jazz singer and a Nashville duo featuring a Steve Martin Banjo Prize winner, both performing at the same Sarasota venue. From Florida, meanwhile, we have two Blues Music Award-nominated artists and two of the top groups that call Sarasota-Manatee home, one playing after recently returning from France and another performing most days this week at various venues. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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Svetlana, who previously played Sarasota in 2022 as part of Jazz Club of Sarasota's Monday Night Jazz Cabaret series at Florida Studio Theatre's John C. Court Cabaret, will return for a show at Fogartyville. The Russia-born jazz vocalist is based in New York City, where she leads the swing band The Delancey Five that regularly plays the famed speakeasy venue The Back Room. She also topped Billboard's traditional jazz album chart with 2019's "Night at the Movies," featuring jazzy renditions of songs that have appeared in films such as "Remember Me" from "Coco," releasing an EP of remixes earlier this year. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Friday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $25, $20 members, $13 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469;
Blues bassist and singer-songwriter Biscuit Miller will return to Sarasota County restaurant and blues venue Englewoods on Dearborn this weekend. A two-time winner of the Blues Music Award for Instrumentalist — Bass in 2012 and 2017, Miller has released albums including 2019's "Chicken Grease" and 2010's "Blues with a Smile," a fitting title for the charismatic performer. Along with leading his own band, Miller previously performed in the groups of other blues musicians such as Lonnie Brooks and Anthony Gomes. 6:30 p.m. Friday; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; free; 941-475-7501;
After recently playing the Beautiful Swamp Blues Festival in Calais, France, Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones will be back at one of their regular venues, Mattison's on downtown Bradenton's Riverwalk. Though based in Bradenton, Deming & the Jewel Tones have found a national and even international audience. The group earned three Blues Blast Music Awards nominations in 2023: Blues Band of the Year; Live Blues Album for "Groovin' at Groove Now!," recorded in Basel, Switzerland; and Historical or Vintage Recording for the 20th anniversary reissue of their 2002 debut album "Double Down." 6 p.m. Friday; Mattison's, 101 Riverfront Blvd. Suite 120, Bradenton; 941-896-9660;
Sarasota reggae favorites Jah Movement are set to play several shows this week in Sarasota, Siesta Key and Anna Maria Island. Jah Movement is led by singers Shantel Norman and Damie Caines, who used to play in another popular reggae act Democracy with his father, the late Oswald "Ham" Caines. As if this schedule wasn't enough, Norman will also perform solo Saturday at the Gospel Jubilee Showcase at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. 6 p.m. Friday and Sunday; Gulf Drive Cafe, 900 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach; 941-778-1919; 7 p.m. Saturday; Overtown Square, 1386 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota; 5 p.m. Wednesday; The Big Tiki Lounge, 5311 Ocean Blvd., Siesta Key; 941-313-8970; 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15; The Gator Club, 1490 Main St., Sarasota; 941-366-5969;
The annual three-day festival organized by local LGBTQ+ nonprofit Fabulous Arts Foundation will return this week, concluding with a free daylong concert at downtown Sarasota's Five Points Park on Saturday. This year's headliner will be Washington, D.C. indie-pop/alternative artist Berra, with other out-of-state acts including Atlanta DJ GeeXella (who did in the Sunshine State start the dance party Duval Folx in Jacksonville.) The lineup will also feature several Florida music acts such as Sarasota electro-rock/synth-pop group MeteorEYES, whose members include Fabulous Arts Foundation founder, president and executive director Shannon Fortner. 3-10 p.m. Saturday; Five Points Park, 1 Central Ave., Sarasota; free, but donations welcome; 941-228-4872;
Fogartyville's live music lineup this weekend will also include the Nashville-based pair of Victor Furtado and Carolina Schott. Clawhammer banjo player Victor Furtado was the recipient of the prestigious Steve Martin Banjo Prize in 2019 at 19 years old, the youngest musician to receive the award, and has performed with musicians including bluegrass crossover star Billy Strings, performing on Strings' 2024 album "Highway Prayers." Guitarist and singer-songwriter Schott — who, like Furtado, graduated from Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music in 2023 — performs as a solo artist and in a duo with Furtado. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Saturday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $25, $20 members, $13 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469;
Guitarist, singer-songwriter and former Anna Maria Island resident Damon Fowler will return to Sarasota's Big Top Live this weekend as part of the venue's Blues & Brews Sunday concert series. Fowler's releases include last year's "Barnyard Smile" and 2021's "Alafia Moon," which topped Billboard's blues albums chart and earned a Blues Music Award nomination for Blues Rock Album. Besides his solo work, Fowler has also played in the groups of the late Allman Brothers Band founding members Dickey Betts and Butch Trucks, and in the supergroup Southern Hospitality with Grammy-nominated pianist Victor Wainwright and fellow Floridian J.P. Soars. 4 p.m. Sunday; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; free; 941-371-2939;
Soars has his own local headlining gig this week at Englewoods on Dearborn with his other band the Red Hots. The group earned four Blues Music Awards nominations in 2022: Band of the Year, B.B. King Entertainer and Instrumentalist — Guitar for Soars, and Instrumentalist — Drums for bandmate Chris Peet, who scored another nomination in the same category this year. Soars released his newest full-length "Brick by Brick" last year. 6:30 p.m. Thursday; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $7; 941-475-7501;
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 8 concerts this week Sarasota Bradenton AMI Siesta Key Englewood
