Top 5 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Punta Gorda
This week marks the start of June and with it, a new lineup of local events, including live music.
A Sarasota event helping kick off this year's Pride Month festivities will host a duo of country musicians from Nashville, while multiple shows will pay tribute to Dickey Betts, a founding Allman Brothers Band member and longtime Sarasota County resident who died in April at 80 years old, featuring some of the many musicians who performed with him over the decades. Other notable concerts include a triple-bill of '80s and '90s glam metal groups and a returning, Blues Music Award-nominated performer. Here are this week's highlights. Event details are subject to change.
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Lou Ridley and Brady Riley
Sarasota LGBTQ+ organization Project Pride SRQ will kick off Pride Month with its Grand Carnival in Bloom event, with festivities that include musical performances by Nashville-by-way-of-Texas country artists Lou Ridley and Brady Riley. Ridley, whose releases include last year's "Hellhound" EP and who's tackled discrimination on her songs "Bless Your Heart" and "Bible Belt," has been covered by outlets including People magazine and the Grammys, which featured her in its Press Play at Home series. Meanwhile, Riley plays a blend of country, pop and rock that he dubs "country vogue," with songs including "Welcome to Chambers County," named after the county his hometown Winnie, Texas is in. 7 p.m. Saturday; Circus Arts Conservatory, 2075 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota; $85, $125 VIP; ppsrq.org
Dickey Betts tribute show
Founding Allman Brothers Band guitarist and longtime Sarasota County resident Dickey Betts died at his Osprey home in April at 80 years old. Now, several other musicians who call the Sarasota area home — including multiple former band members of Betts — will play a show paying tribute to him. The lineup will include keyboardist/vocalist Mike Kach and bassist Pedro Arevalo, both longtime members of Betts' band still credited on his website as such, along with drummer/percussionist Garrett Dawson, who's toured with Betts and Great Southern as well as fellow late Allman Brothers Band co-founder Butch Trucks' Freight Train Band. 7 p.m. Saturday; Birdrock Taco Shack, 1213 13th Ave. W., Bradenton; $10 advance, $15 day of; 941-545-9966; facebook.com/birdrocktaco
Dickey Betts: influential Allman Brothers Band singer and guitarist, dies at Sarasota home
Chris O'Leary Band
After performing at Sarasota County restaurant and blues spot Englewoods on Dearborn, singer-songwriter and harmonica player Chris O'Leary will head to Charlotte County for a show at Leroy's Southern Kitchen & Bar. O'Leary released his latest album "The Hard Line" on esteemed Chicago blues label Alligator Records earlier this year. Prior to his solo career that kicked off with 2010's "Mr. Used to Be,” which was nominated for a Best New Artist Debut Blues Music Award and won a New Artist Debut Release Blues Blast Music Award, O’Leary spent six years fronting the blues group the Barn Burners alongside the late great The Band drummer-singer Levon Helm. 8 p.m. Sunday; Leroy's Southern Kitchen & Bar, 201 W. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-505-2489; leroyspg.com
Andy Aledort
Another Dickey Betts musical tribute will take place this week when guitarist Andy Aledort visits McCurdy's Comedy Theatre in downtown Sarasota for its Music Monday series, playing the music of Betts, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. It's material that Aledort is well-acquainted with: he played guitar with Betts for several years, co-wrote the book "Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan" (with autographed copies of the book to be sold at the show) and performs a Jimi Hendrix tribute. Aledort will be joined on stage by the Ramblin’ Rockers, featuring several talented Sarasota area-based musicians including R.J. Howson, Mike Kach, Garrett Dawson and Berry Oakley Jr. 7 p.m. Monday; McCurdy's Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; $44; 941-925-3869; mccurdyscomedy.com
Trixter, Enuff Z'Nuff, Pretty Boy Floyd
Big Top will welcome a triple bill of '80s and '90s glam metal groups at this show. Trixter is best known for its 1990 self-titled debut album, which reached No. 28 on the Billboard 200, with its songs "One in a Million," "Give It to Me Good" and "Surrender" all charting on the Billboard Hot 100. Enuff Z'Nuff also rose to fame with their own self-titled debut album featuring the charting hits "New Thing" and "Fly High Michelle," with The New York Times naming the former song's music video one of 15 Essential Hair-Metal Videos and Beavis and Butt-Head lampooning the latter. Pretty Boy Floyd ("Rock & Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)," "I Wanna Be with You") rounds out the lineup. 6 p.m. Tuesday; Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; $25; 941-371-2939; bigtopbrewing.com
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 5 concerts this week near me in Sarasota Bradenton Punta Gorda
