Local indie rock and folk lovers who pay attention to the Sarasota area arts calendar may have perked up to hear Sam Beam of Iron & Wine fame will be in town, and although you shouldn’t expect an Iron & Wine concert, Beam is still expected to be performing music.
For fans of Sarasota’s favorite genre, the blues, a Blues Music Award-nominated act will play shows including a free Father’s Day concert at downtown Sarasota park the Bay, while the winning band at this year’s International Blues Challenge will perform in Bradenton.
While we tend to highlight original music in this column, we’re also including two noteworthy tribute acts this week: a Sarasota Opera House show paying tribute to AC/DC, whose frontman Brian Johnson is a Sarasota resident, and a candlelight concert celebrating a film trilogy that turns 25 this year. Here are this week’s highlights. Event details are subject to change.
Candlelight: ‘The Lord of the Rings’
The Candlelight concert series, where a string quartet performs behind a backdrop of candles, will come to Sarasota with a show featuring the music of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, with the first film “The Fellowship of the Ring” celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The concert will include selections from all three films’ scores by Howard Shore (who won Oscars for “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Return of the King”), as well as a rendition of “Into the West” by Annie Lennox from “The Return of the King,” which won the Best Original Song Oscar. 6:15 and 8:30 p.m. Friday; St. Boniface Episcopal Church, 5615 Midnight Pass Road, Sarasota; $44.50-$77.50, add-ons available; feverup.com
Derrick Dove & the Peacekeepers
Bradenton restaurant and blues music venue Cottonmouth will welcome Tifton, Georgia blues-rock band Derrick Dove & the Peacekeepers for a show Saturday. The group comes to the venue after winning this year’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis in the band division, with Dove also winning Best Guitar.
The band has released albums including last year’s “Burn It Down,” featuring the song “Georgia Peach” paying tribute to their home state, and 2023’s “Rough Time.” 7 p.m. Saturday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; donation-based; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul
AC/DUCE/C
Along with classic movies and HD recordings of opera, ballet and theater performances, Sarasota Opera House is filling up its summer calendar with a series of classic rock and pop tribute acts. (The Opera House’s history famously includes as a venue where Elvis Presley performed in 1956.)
The series continues in June with AC/DUCE/C performing there Saturday. As the band’s name would suggest, the group pays tribute to Australian hard rock legends AC/DC, whose frontman Brian Johnson is a Sarasota resident. 7 p.m. Saturday; Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota; $30.90-$72.10; 941-328-1300; sarasotaopera.org
J.P. Soars and the Red Hots
Boca Raton blues guitarist and singer-songwriter J.P. Soars and the Red Hots will play two Sarasota County shows this week: a free Father’s Day show at downtown Sarasota park the Bay and Englewoods on Dearborn. The group was nominated for four Blues Music Awards 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 this year.
Soars also plays in the supergroup Southern Hospitality with Grammy-nominated pianist Victor Wainwright and fellow Floridian Damon Fowler. 6 p.m. Sunday; the Bay, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota; free; 941-203-5316; thebaysarasota.org; 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $7; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearborn.com
Sam Beam and Lindsey Ferrentino
Hermitage Artist Retreat will welcome Sam Beam, a Florida State University graduate who found success with his folk music project Iron & Wine, and playwright Lindsey Ferrentino for a joint event. Beam’s presence doesn’t mean you should expect a full-on concert as Iron & Wine, which burst onto the indie scene with 2002’s album “The Creek Drank the Cradle” and a cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” and most recently released this year’s album “Hen’s Teeth,” earning five Grammy nominations along the way.
Yet Beam and Ferrentino — whose own work includes the book for the musical “The Queen of Versailles,” based on the 2012 documentary about Central Florida couple Jackie and David Siegel — will “share original work and music” and “insight into their individual artistic practices.” 6:30 p.m. Monday; Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood; $5 registration fee; 941-475-2098; hermitageartistretreat.org
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 5 concerts this week in Sarasota, Bradenton, Englewood
Reporting by Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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By Jimmy Geurts, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
