Top 5 concerts this week near me in Sarasota, Bradenton

The top concerts taking place this week in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

It’s the first full week of October, a month that’ll bring a stacked events calendar to the Sarasota area, including live music. The biggest show in town this week will be an annual Circus Arts Conservatory fundraiser and electronic dance music concert, once again headlined by an internationally renowned DJ.

Also in town this week will be multiple Blues Music Award-winning acts, a Mean Grrrls Night headlined by a band best known for their cover of a song from another Lindsay Lohan movie, and an Americana artist whose accolades include coverage by Rolling Stone Country. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.

Jason Ricci and J.J. Appleton

Bradenton restaurant Cottonmouth, which also regularly hosts live blues music, will welcome two names in the genre with Jason Ricci and J.J. Appleton on Friday. Harmonica player and singer Ricci has won multiple Blues Music Awards in the Instrumentalist — Harmonica category, most recently last year, and performed alongside Tom Morello, Zac Brown and Paul Shaffer at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction of Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Appleton, meanwhile, played in the band for David Bowie’s stage musical “Lazarus.” 7 p.m. Friday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $20 donation; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul

Peace Cult

Bradenton’s Oscura will host Mean Grrrls Night!, a portmanteau of the 2004 Lindsay Lohan movie “Mean Girls” and the riot grrrl punk subgenre, with Tampa alternative rock group Peace Cult headlining. It’s a fitting choice, as the band’s biggest song so far, with more than 18 million current Spotify streams, is their cover of “Take Me Away” — which appeared in another Lohan film, 2003’s “Freaky Friday,” as well as this year’s sequel “Freakier Friday” — and Peace Cult names riot grrrl group Bikini Kill among their influences. Nowincolor, My Favorite Animal and Eyes on Me will also perform. 7 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. show Friday; Oscura, 816 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton; free/pay-what-you-want ages 21 and up, $10 under age 21; oscura.live

R3HAB

Wonderball, Circus Arts Conservatory’s annual fundraiser dance party featuring electronic music, returns for its third year with DJ R3HAB. (Two other big names in electronic music, Steve Aoki and Alan Walker, previously headlined Wonderball, which raises money for Circus Arts Conservatory’s youth education programs.) A repeat name on DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list, landing at No. 18 last year, R3HAB is known for tracks including his 2019 version of Eurodance group A Touch of Class’ 2000 hit “Around the World (La La La La La),” with R3HAB’s rendition currently at more than 750 million Spotify streams. 7 p.m. Saturday; Sailor Circus Arena, 2075 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota; $100-$125 stadium seating/standing room, VIP sponsor lounge pods also available; circusartswonderball.com

Thornetta Davis

Cottonmouth will also partner with nearby brewery Flamingo Bay Brewing Co. to present a concert by Detroit blues singer Thornetta Davis. Davis is another recipient of multiple Blues Music Awards, winning in the Soul Blues Female Artist category both this year and in 2023. Yet Davis’ career hasn’t always taken the traditional path of a blues musician, either: she was signed in the 1990s to Sub Pop — a record label then better known for its grunge and indie-rock acts — worked with fellow Detroit musicians Bob Seger and Kid Rock, and had her music appear on an episode of “The Sopranos.” 3 p.m. Sunday; Flamingo Bay Brewing Co., 1910 14th St. W., Bradenton; $25; 941-213-9646; flamingobaybrewingco.com

Alice Wallace

Sarasota venue Fogartyville, a top spot to see nationally touring singer-songwriter acts locally, will welcome Nashville-by-way-of-California Americana artist Alice Wallace on Sunday. Wallace’s accolades include having her track “The Blue,” from her 2019 album “Into the Blue,” be named one of 10 Best Country and Americana Songs to Hear Now by Rolling Stone Country. She comes to Sarasota after last year releasing the follow-up to “Into the Blue,” her first album in five years, appropriately titled “Here I Am.” Sara Stovall, of Sarasota Americana group Passerine, will open the show. 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show Sunday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $25, $20 members, $13 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org

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