The top concerts taking place this week in Sarasota and Charlotte counties.
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November will bring a stacked lineup of events to the Sarasota area, including live music. The first day of the month on Saturday will be particularly busy, with a collection of classic hip-hop figures, two nationally touring country music acts playing a free concert, and another pair of nationally acclaimed musicians kicking off Jazz Club of Sarasota’s new season among those visiting the area that day.
Other notable shows this week will include the return of a concert series held in The Ringling’s courtyard with free admission for students. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.
stop.drop.rewind
Venice’s Troll Music will welcome Indiana’s stop.drop.rewind both for a full-band show Saturday, as well as an Emo Acoustic Night featuring band members Kris and DJ. The group describes itself as “progressive-powerpop,” with their music blending the melody of the latter genre with the instrumental intracacies of the former.
As one might infer from the name of their Friday show, emo is also an important genre for the group, which lists bands like Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack among their influences and also aptly describes their sound as “what happens when emo kids grow up and get jazz degrees.” 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Troll Music, 628 E. Venice Ave., Venice; $8 Friday, $22 Saturday; 941-484-8765; trollmusic.com
Igor and Red Elvises
“Siberian surf rock” group Igor and Red Elvises will return to our area this week for shows at Sarasota’s Big Top Live and Punta Gorda’s Celtic Ray. The group is fronted by Igor Yuzov, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, seeking out the forbidden sounds of rock ‘n’ roll.
He later moved to America and formed the Red Elvises, which has released albums including 1996’s “Grooving to the Moscow Beat” and 1997’s “Surfing in Siberia,” and is still going strong today. 7:30 p.m. Friday; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; free; 941-371-2939; bigtoplive.com; 8 p.m. Sunday; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-916-9115; celticray.net
Hip-Hop Dance Party
Update: According to its Eventbrite page, this concert has again been postponed.
Some good news after this classic hip-hop concert got postponed from an earlier September date: it’s still set to take place Saturday, and it’s since added a big name. Young MC, best known for his 1989 No. 7 hit “Bust a Move” that won the second-ever Best Rap Performance Grammy, will now appear at the event.
Also good news: Previously announced guests Pete Nice of 3rd Bass (“Pop Goes the Weasel”) and Scorpio of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (“The Message”) are still set to appear. So are Reel 2 Real (“I Like to Move It”), Chill Rob G (“The Power”) and Newcleus (“Jam on It.”) 7 p.m. Saturday; Big Top Live, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; $36.88 and up; 941-371-2939; bigtoplive.com
Brian Kelley and Ghost Hounds
Downtown Sarasota park The Bay will conclude its third anniversary festivities this weekend, including this free concert by country music acts Brian Kelley and Ghost Hounds on Saturday. The Ormond Beach-born Kelley rose to fame as half of the country star duo Florida Georgia Line, before pursuing a solo career that includes last year’s single “Feels Right (I Love It)” with fellow Sunshine State native Flo Rida.
Country rock group Ghost Hounds, meanwhile, opened multiple Rolling Stones concerts last year, and this year made their Grand Ole Opry debut and released their latest album “Almost Home,” featuring guests like Lainey Wilson and Patty Griffin. 7 p.m. Saturday; The Bay, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota; free; 941-203-5316; thebaysarasota.org
Jason Marsalis and Nicole Henry
Jazz Club of Sarasota will kick off its 46th season with this show featuring drummer and vibraphonist Jason Marsalis and vocalist Nicole Henry. Hailing from the Marsalis musician family, Jason Marsalis received the NEA Jazz Masters, the self-described highest honors that the U.S. can give jazz artists, along with his brothers Branford, Wynton and Delfeayo and father Ellis in 2011.
Henry’s accolades include winning the 2013 Soul Train Music Award for Traditional Jazz Performance, in a field with songs by Tony Bennett and Marc Anthony, Terence Blanchard, Jeffrey Osborne and Chaka Khan, and George Benson and Wynton Marsalis. 7 p.m. Saturday; Riverview Performing Arts Center, 1 Ram Way, Sarasota; $72.44 and up; 941-260-9951; jazzclubsarasota.org
J.P. Soars and the Red Hots
Celtic Ray’s live music lineup this weekend will also include Boca Raton blues guitarist/singer-songwriter J.P. Soars and 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 was nominated in the same category earlier this year.
Along with the Red Hots, Soars also plays in the supergroup Southern Hospitality with Grammy-nominated pianist Victor Wainwright and fellow Floridian Damon Fowler. 8 p.m. Saturday; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-916-9115; celticray.net
Ringling Underground
Ringling Underground, the concert series held in The Ringling’s courtyard featuring mostly (but not always) Florida bands and free admission for students, will return for its first event of the season. Gainesville’s Rugh, who incorporate irregular rhythms and interwoven guitar riffs into their indie/emo/math rock sound, will serve as November’s headliner.
St. Petersburg indie rock group The Pilot Waves and Sarasota emo band Ending Apathy will also perform. 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6; The Ringling, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota; $15, free students with ID/members; 941-359-5700; ringling.org
Matthew Curry
Troll Music’s live music lineup this week will also include Bloomington, Illinois blues-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Matthew Curry, continuing a string of area dates. Curry counts among his fans Peter Frampton, The Doobie Brothers and Steve Miller Band, all of whom he’s opened for. He also appeared onscreen in the 2015 David Spade comedy “Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser,” playing the late Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman and Jacksonville native Ronnie Van Zant.
Can’t make it? Curry has another upcoming local show on the calendar, Nov. 9 at Port Charlotte’s The Twisted Fork. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, Troll Music, 628 E. Venice Ave., Venice; $20; 941-484-8765; trollmusic.com
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