Top 8 concerts this week in Sarasota, Palmetto and Punta Gorda
January's long list of notable concerts and other area events continues, with Sarasota's largest performing arts hall Van Wezel having a busy week for live music in particular. Among those visiting are a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted vocal group still featuring its founding frontman, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter performing their most popular album, and another Grammy-winning act celebrating five decades together.
Even some area festivals not exclusively centered on music will bring noteworthy performers to town this week. Those include a seafood festival with a Juno Award-winning blues artist among its free, three-day live music lineup, and the returning Manatee County Fair featuring a Grammy-nominated bluegrass group among its main stage entertainment. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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Punta Gorda Seafood & Music Festival
The locally based Paragon Festivals hosts its first area seafood and music festival of the new year in Punta Gorda, featuring three days of food, drink and free live music. Notable performers include Crystal Shawanda, a Canadian-born country singer-turned-blues musician who won the Best Blues Album Juno Award (Canada's equivalent of the Grammys) for 2020's "Church House Blues," playing Saturday. She'll be joined by other blues artists such as Memphis Lightning and Sean Chambers and local favorites including Kettle of Fish and 22N. 4-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday; Laishley Park, 120 Laishley Court, Punta Gorda; free admission; 941-487-8061; paragonfestivals.com
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Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
A busy week of concerts at Van Wezel kicks off with famed vocal group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Notching No. 1 hits throughout the 1960s and '70s with songs such as "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man" and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," the group was inducted into the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame in 1990. The 88-year-old Valli and the Four Seasons were introduced to a new generation of fans with the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Jersey Boys," based on their life story, and its 2014 film adaptation directed by Clint Eastwood. 7 p.m. Sunday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $122-$137; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
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Nellie McKay
Singer-songwriter and actress Nellie McKay will make her return to Fogartyville this Sunday. McKay made a big splash with her 2004 debut "Get Away from Me," blending pop, jazz and rock and earning rave reviews from outlets including Entertainment Weekly and The Guardian, and has released numerous albums since. Her wide-ranging career also includes roles in the 2006 Tony-nominated Broadway revival of "The Threepenny Opera" and the 2007 Hilary Swank/Gerard Butler romance "P.S. I Love You," also contributing music to the film, among her various soundtrack appearances. 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show Sunday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $32, $28 members, $16 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
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Cornell Gunter's Coasters, The Drifters and The Platters
Van Wezel will welcome the music of three other Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted vocal groups this week with the triple bill of Cornell Gunter's Coasters, The Drifters and The Platters. Don't expect any original band members, after decades of lineup changes and deaths, but do expect to hear their classic songs. Those include "Yakety Yak" and "Down in Mexico" for the Coasters, "Under the Boardwalk" and "Save the Last Dance for Me" for the Drifters, and "Only You (and You Alone)" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" for the Platters. 7:30 p.m. Monday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $32-$67; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
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Judy Collins performing 'Wildflowers'
Judy Collins will revisit her 1967 full-length "Wildflowers" with this show featuring the singer-songwriter performing the album, supported by a 27-piece orchestra, along with other songs from her decades-spanning career. Featuring her Best Folk Performance Grammy-winning, Top 10 rendition of the Joni Mitchell classic "Both Sides Now" as well as multiple Leonard Cohen-penned songs, "Wildflowers" remains Collins' highest-charting album to date, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Yet the 83-year-old Collins is still going strong, just recently earning a Best Folk Album Grammy nomination for 2022's "Spellbound," her first-ever album of all original material. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $27-$72; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
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America
Rounding out Van Wezel's busy week of concerts is pop-rock act America, celebrating five decades as a group. The band rose to fame in the 1970s with earworms such as their Grammy-nominated No. 1 hit "A Horse with No Name" (with the group winning the Best New Artist Grammy that same year), "Sister Golden Hair" and "Ventura Highway." Still featuring founding members Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, America has continued to release new music into the 2000s and '10s, including 2007's "Here & Now," which saw the group collaborating with and covering younger artists such as My Morning Jacket and Nada Surf. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $67-$102; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org
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Dailey & Vincent
Along with midway rides and fried foods, Manatee County Fair will offer live music, most notably bluegrass group Dailey & Vincent. Featuring singers and multi-instrumentalists Jamie Dailey, formerly of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and Darrin Vincent, formerly of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Dailey & Vincent have won 13 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards and earned three Grammy nominations. Other performers will include Grammy-nominated contemporary Christian artist Rhett Walker (Sunday), country-pop band Rockland Road (Friday-Saturday) and bluegrass group Hwy 41 South (Wednesday.) 7:30 p.m. Thursday; Manatee County Fairgrounds, 1402 14th Ave. W., Palmetto; $10 adults, $6 military with active status ID/ages 6-12, free ages 5 and under (admission), $10 parking; 941-722-1639; manateecountyfair.com
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The Blue Eyed Bettys
Also returning to Fogartyville this week are "indie-folk popgrass" band The Blue Eyed Bettys. Banjo player Daniel Emond, guitarist Ben Mackel and fiddler Sarah Hund (who share singing duties) are respectively based in Brooklyn, Asheville and "everywhere else," but met doing a play together at Sarasota's Florida Studio Theatre. The group's releases include 2017's "Find My Way Out Soon" and 2016's "Covered Up," featuring bluegrass-tinged renditions of songs including the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" 6 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show Thursday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $22, $18 members, $11 students ages 13 and up; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Best live music concerts in Sarasota, Bradenton, Punta Gorda area
