Top 10 concerts, comedians, celebs visiting Sarasota's Van Wezel in 2024-25

Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall announced its 2024-25 season earlier this week, featuring another lineup full of famous musicians, comedians and other celebrities.

This Van Wezel season features a couple of performers making their debut at the venue, including a stand-up comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" star, a singer with multiple No. 1 hits to his name, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award-winning, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted legend. There'll also be several returning favorites, including an acclaimed stand-up comic and a James Beard Award-winning food television personality on what they say are their farewell tours. And while the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series is technically separate from Van Wezel's season, all the events take place at the venue, so we're including talks by an eight-time Oscar-nominated actress and a four-time Super Bowl champion, too.

Here are the 10 concerts, comedians and celebrities we're most excited about visiting Van Wezel in 2024 and 2025, presented in chronological order. Event details are subject to change. Tickets for all shows will go on sale to the public Saturday, September 7 at 10 a.m., and can be purchased in person at the Van Wezel box office at 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, by phone at 941-263-6799 or online at vanwezel.org. Note: this list doesn't include stage productions such as the Broadway hits "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Come from Away" that are also coming to Van Wezel.

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Billy Ocean (Oct. 15)

The Trinidad-born, Britain-raised singer-songwriter is known for No. 1 hits such as 1984's "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)," which won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and 1988's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car." Other hits of his include "Love Really Hurts Without You," "Red Light Spells Danger," "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" and "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" — the latter two songs appearing on Ocean's 1986 album "Love Zone" that earned him another Grammy nomination.

Leslie Jones (Nov. 22)

Many people know Leslie Jones best for her television and movie appearances including her Emmy-nominated, six-year stint on "Saturday Night Live," her role as Spanish Jackie on the series "Our Flag Means Death," and as one of the main cast members in 2016's "Ghostbusters." But before any of that, she was a stand-up comedian — her Showtime special "Problem Child" came out in 2010, four years before she joined "Saturday Night Live" — and she's remained one since, releasing the Netflix special "Time Machine" in 2020.

Lewis Black (Dec. 6)

A longtime visitor of Van Wezel, stand-up comedian Lewis Black will perform at the venue supposedly one last time on his Goodbye Yeller Brick Road: The Final Tour (an amusing riff on Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.") Black is known for his comedic rants fueled by righteous outrage, displayed on his "Back in Black" segments for "The Daily Show," Best Comedy Album Grammy-winning specials such as "Stark Raving Black," and while voicing the literal embodiment of anger in Pixar's 2015 Oscar-winning animated film "Inside Out" and this year's hit sequel.

Allman Betts Family Revival (Dec. 11)

This annual concert tour has deep local ties, as Devon Allman and Sarasota native Duane Betts — the respective sons of founding Allman Brothers Band frontman and onetime Sarasota-Manatee resident Gregg Allman and ABB guitarist, cofounder and longtime Sarasota County resident Dickey Betts — play their fathers' music alongside guest musicians in a style reminiscent of The Band's "The Last Waltz." This year's event should be particularly poignant following Dickey Betts' death in April at his Osprey home on Little Sarasota Bay at 80 years old.

Glenn Close (Jan. 13)

Long considered one of our greatest living actors, Glenn Close has earned eight Oscar nominations for her roles in films such as "Fatal Attraction" and "The Wife," along with winning three Tonys and three Emmys (two for her leading role on the legal drama "Damages.") While her acting career will almost assuredly come up during her RCLA Town Hall, don't be surprised if she also discusses her mental health advocacy, including co-founding Bring Change to Mind or donating $75,000 to the Mental Health Association of Central Florida to those affected by the Pulse nightclub shooting.

Rob Gronkowski (Feb. 3)

Also taking part in this RCLA Town Hall season will be Rob Gronkowski, the four-time Super Bowl champion tight end for the New England Patriots and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until his retirement in 2022, who will share "his stories of perseverance through injuries and hard-fought recoveries, his four Super Bowl victories, and what’s next for this American icon." Gronkowski has proven himself to be a magnetic personality off the football field as well, including his recent appearance on the Netflix roast of his longtime teammate Tom Brady.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall (Feb. 12)

If you've ever been in a record store, you've almost certainly seen the cover of the 1965 Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass album "Whipped Cream & Other Delights." The jazz trumpeter Alpert's other musical accomplishments include the No. 1 hits "This Guy's in Love with You" and "Rise," eight Grammys (not counting his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award or three Grammy Hall of Fame recordings) and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Alpert will perform with his wife Lani Hall, herself a two-time Grammy winner and former lead singer for Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66.

Alton Brown (Feb. 16)

Alton Brown is one of the best-known personalities in food television, thanks to decades-long runs hosting the Food Network shows "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef America" (as well as later revivals of both series), winning two James Beard Awards and a Peabody Award along the way. Brown has also toured with live culinary variety shows since 2013 and brings Last Bite — The Farewell Tour to Van Wezel in February, the same month he's set to release his latest book "Food for Thought."

Jay Leno and Arsenio Hall (March 14)

Stand-up comedians, former late-night television hosts, and onetime Rolling Stone cover co-stars Jay Leno and Arsenio Hall will join forces again for a show at Van Wezel. In recent years, Jay Leno has continued to perform stand-up (including at Van Wezel in 2014, the night after his final episode hosting "The Tonight Show") and starred in the show "Jay Leno's Garage," while Arsenio Hall again appeared alongside Eddie Murphy in the 2021 movie "Coming 2 America," the sequel to 1988's "Coming to America."

Branford Marsalis Quartet (April 2)

Speaking of "The Tonight Show," former bandleader Branford Marsalis will visit Van Wezel this season with the jazz quartet he founded in 1986. The saxophonist's wide-ranging career has seen him collaborate with director Spike Lee on multiple films, perform with the Grateful Dead, and compose the Tony-nominated score to the 2010 Broadway revival of "Fences." Marsalis has also won three Grammys, and been named a NEA Jazz Master along with his father Ellis Marsalis Jr. and his brothers Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Top 10 concerts, comedians, celebs visiting Sarasota Van Wezel 2024-25