Top 5 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Englewood
July's lineup of fun things to do locally, including live music, continues with an eclectic selection of concerts this week.
Like most weeks here in Sarasota-Manatee, there'll be notable blues musicians, including one who just received their latest Blues Music Award earlier this year and a longtime New Orleans resident who's won multiple Best of the Beat awards for harmonica player from the city's famed music magazine OffBeat. Yet blues isn't the only genre represented in this week's concert picks, which also include jazz, punk and even a mashup of hip-hop and improv comedy. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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Doug MacLeod
After winning yet another Blues Music Award earlier this year, singer-songwriter and renowned acoustic guitarist Doug MacLeod visits Sarasota-Manatee for back-to-back nights of shows. MacLeod's latest Blues Music Award was in the Acoustic Blues Artist category, which he's won multiple times before along with two wins for Acoustic Blues Album. MacLeod also earlier this year put out his newest release, the EP "Raw Blues 1." 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Friday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $20, $18 members, $10 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org; 7 p.m. Saturday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $20; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
MC Hammersmith
Sarasota Improv Festival returns for the first time in four years this week, featuring a rapping headliner in MC Hammersmith. The self-described performer "straight outta middle class west London" (his name is a portmanteau of rapper MC Hammer and the West London district Hammersmith) blends hip-hop and comedy, performing original tracks as well as improvised freestyle rap comedy based on audience suggestions. Now based in Edinburgh, Scotland, MC Hammer will perform two solo shows Saturday as well as a "Musical All-Stars" show Friday featuring three other troupes. 10 p.m. Friday and 4 and 9 p.m. Saturday; Florida Studio Theatre, 1241 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota; ticket prices vary; sarasotaimprovfestival.com
Period Bomb
Bradenton's Oscura, which has become a top spot for locally based and nationally touring indie music acts since reopening last year, welcomes punk band Period Bomb this weekend. The group from Miami has been showcased by outlets including famed, long-running punk zine Maximum Rocknroll, which has interviewed them and reviewed releases of theirs, and the programming block Adult Swim, which featured them on its streaming show Bloodfeast. Fellow Floridian acts Piss Girl and Storage Music Unit will also perform. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Sunday; Oscura, 816 Manatee Ave. E., Bradenton; $10 advance, $15 day of; 941-201-4950; oscura.live
Brandon Robertson Trio
Jazz Club of Sarasota's Monday Night Jazz Cabaret Series, featuring musicians in the genre performing at Florida Studio Theatre's John C. Court Cabaret, continues with the Brandon Robertson Trio. Robertson is an electric and upright bassist (his 2019 album is named "Bass'd on a True Story") who's originally from Tampa and is currently the director of jazz studies and the basketball band at Fort Myers' Florida Gulf Coast University. He'll be joined by Zach Bartholomew, whose own trio Robertson has played in, on piano and Max Marsillo on drums. 6:30 p.m. doors, dinner/drinks, 7:30 p.m. show Monday; John C. Court Cabaret, 1265 First St., Sarasota; $34-$39; 941-260-9951; jazzclubsarasota.org
Rockin' Jake Band
Sarasota County blues venue and restaurant Englewoods on Dearborn's live music lineup this week includes harmonica player Rockin' Jake. A longtime New Orleans resident, with the city's renowned music magazine OffBeat giving him its Best of the Beat Award for harmonica player numerous years, Rockin' Jake relocated after Hurricane Katrina, settling in the fellow blues hub of St. Louis. He now lives in South Florida, also recording a 2004 live album at Key West's famed bar/venue The Green Parrot. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $5; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearborn.com
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top concerts near me in Sarasota, Bradenton, Englewood
