Top 5 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Palmetto

As we enter mid-August, we’re definitely in the slow time of the year for Sarasota area events, including live music. However, we still found five items for this week’s concert picks installment, starting with a few notable tribute shows.

Those include a string quartet backlit by candles, performing songs by two of the biggest pop and rock acts of the ’70s and ’80s. And as “The Grateful Dead Movie” returns once again to theaters, starting this week, two Dead tribute acts will play separate shows the same night on each side of Sarasota-Manatee. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.

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Candlelight: Queen vs. ABBA

The Candlelight concert series, with a string quartet performing behind the backdrop of candlelight, will return to Sarasota with this show featuring Listeso String Quartet playing the music of Queen and ABBA. Expect to hear hits such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen” and “We Are the Champions” by Queen, and “Waterloo,” “SOS” and “Dancing Queen” by ABBA. Missed out on this show? It’s set to return Oct. 25 and Jan. 10, with other upcoming Candlelight concerts featuring the music of Taylor Swift and Coldplay & Imagine Dragons. 8 p.m. Saturday; St. Boniface Episcopal Church, 5615 Midnight Pass Road, Sarasota; sold out as of press time; feverup.com/m/369664

Grateful Dead tributes

The same week that 1977’s “The Grateful Dead Movie” is re-released in theaters nationwide for the annual “Meet-Up at the Movies” — including, for the first time this year, on IMAX screens — two Dead tribute acts will offer a chance to hear the band’s music at shows on each side of Sarasota-Manatee on Saturday. Big Top Live will feature the Tampa Bay-based Dead Set Florida, with 17-year-old guitarist Steven Kortie joining them, while Bradenton’s Cottonmouth will feature the St. Pete-based five-piece Dead All Over. 7 p.m. Saturday; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; 941-371-2939; bigtoplive.com; 7:30 p.m. Saturday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul

The Divebombers

Bradenton’s Linger Lodge, a piece of Old Florida history dating back 80 years, will feature live music by Sarasota roots-rock group The Divebombers on Saturday. The band features electric guitarist George Worthmore, a New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee, as well as bassist Chad Clifford and acoustic guitarist Nat Langston. The trio plays “classic American music with a focus on top level guitar playing,” including the music of George Jones, Johnny Cash, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Glen Campbell, Chuck Berry, Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, and early Elvis. 6 p.m. Saturday; Linger Lodge, 7205 85th St. Court E., Bradenton; 941-755-2757; lingerlodge.com/restaurant-home

Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones

Blues band Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones will play one of their regular venues, Riviera Dunes Dockside in Palmetto, on Thursday. 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.” 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21; Riviera Dunes Dockside, 102 Riviera Dunes Way, Palmetto; 941-304-3689; rivieradunesdockside.com

Jah Movement

Also performing at one of their regular venues on Thursday will be local reggae favorites Jah Movement, playing Gator Club in downtown Sarasota. The group’s lineup includes co-lead vocalists Shantel Norman and Damie Caines, who used to perform in fellow reggae band Democracy with his late father, Oswald “Ham” Caines. Along with playing shows frequently in Sarasota-Manatee and the greater Tampa Bay area, Jah Movement has also held the annual block party Osfest outside Gator Club honoring “Ham” Caines’ memory. 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21; The Gator Club, 1490 Main St., Sarasota; 941-366-5969; thegatorclub.com

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 5 concerts this week near me in Sarasota, Bradenton, Palmetto