Jack Rabbits

Where bands play before they get big

Plenty of acts came through here on the way up, playing to a room of 300 or fewer. The list includes Modest Mouse, Paramore, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell. Mike Watt, the Melvins and Built to Spill have played here too. The calendar leans toward indie and alternative, punk and metal, reggae and local bands of every stripe.

A club since 1999

Anne Wind opened Jack Rabbits in 1999 after she and her husband, promoter Tim Hall, moved to Jacksonville from San Diego. The building dates to 1941 and once held a tavern, and back then this stretch of Hendricks was mostly forgotten. The first show, by a band called Big Sky, sold out. Hall books the room through his company, Jax Live, which also books shows at bigger venues around the area. The club got through the touring slump after 2001 and the long shutdown of 2020, and it outlasted local rooms like Fat Kat, the Milk Bar, the Art Bar and Freebird Live. It marked 25 years in 2024 with a run of anniversary shows, including JJ Grey and Mofro.

Finding it

The club sits two blocks north of San Marco Square on the south bank of the St. Johns, a quick hop over the river from downtown. San Marco's restaurants and bars around the square make it easy to grab dinner and walk over. Parking is a neighborhood affair, so leave a few minutes to find a spot and read the posted signs on side streets.

Small club habits

• Sort out your ride home before the headliner starts.
• Check your ticket for the age limit on each show.
• Earplugs are a good idea up front.

For a seated show in a grand old room, the Florida Theatre is across the river downtown. More shows are on the Jacksonville and St. Augustine page.