datebook

THE PLAYERS Championship

MARCH 7-12 • TPC Sawgrass

The PLAYERS is back in full swing this spring. Well, sort of. Some players, including last year’s winner Cameron Smith, won’t be participating because of their jump to the rival LIV Tour. Regardless of who shows up to play. Since 1982 the famed TPC Sawgrass has hosted one of the most anticipated PGA TOUR events on its annual schedule and has set the stage for some of golf’s most dramatic finishes. This world-class tournament attracts of thousands of fans each year, but not just for the drives and putts. The week includes a concert, food trucks, craft cocktails and hospitality tents as far as the eye can see, $30-97

Jacksonville Icemen

FEBRUARY 1, 3, 10, 11, 15, 24 & 25

VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

The River City’s own ECL minor league hockey squad takes to the ice for seven games this month, including frosty battles versus the Atlanta Gladiators, Orlando Solar Bears and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, $19-$75

Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra

FEBRUARY 3 & 4, 7:30 PM

Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts

Few performers truly earn the title of “legend.” Count Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers among them. Grab your boots and join the hoedown as the orchestra and guest vocalists perform classics from the Queen and King of country, $27-$81

Carrie Underwood

FEBRUARY 6, 7:30 PM

VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

Carrie Underwood is a true multi-format, multi-media superstar, spanning achievements in music, television, film; and, as a New York Times bestselling-author and successful entrepreneur, she has sold more than 66 million records worldwide, recorded 28 #1 singles (14 of which she co-wrote), $39-$975

Jacksonville RV MegaShow

FEBRUARY 9-12

Jacksonville Equestrian Center

Perhaps there’s no better time than the present to take that cross-country road trip you’ve been dreaming about. Find your ride at the largest multi-dealer RV show in Northeast Florida. With hundreds of new recreational vehicles of all types, this family-friendly event showcases the latest models of motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels and tent campers, $10

John Mellencamp

FEBRUARY 11, 8 PM

Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts

The heartland rocker is hitting the road for his “Strictly a One-Eyed Jack” tour. Mellencamp is known for his simple rhythms and catchy singles including “Jack & Diane” and “Hurts So Good.” A founding member of the non-profit Farm Aid, he has been performing in festivals to benefit farmers in America since 1985, $49-$299

Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra

FEBRUARY 17 & 18, 7:30 PM

Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts

One of the greatest fantasies ever told entirely through music, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is a storybook world of vivid colors and heroic characters that tells the story of a savvy woman who foils her wicked husband, $27-$81

Deep Purple

FEBRUARY 19, 7:30 PM

Florida Theater

Selling more than 100 million albums and packing stadiums for concerts, Deep Purple has become a household name for classic rock. Originally formed as a psychedelic and progressive rock band, their shift into heavier metal is reverberated in hits like “Smoke on the Water,” “Highway Star,” and “Perfect Strangers.” Joined by The Marshall Tucker Band, $79.50-$149.50

Donna Marathon Weekend

FEBRUARY 3-5 • Jacksonville Beach

The annual weekend devoted to all things running, and staging the only marathon and half marathon in the country dedicated to breast cancer research and care, celebrates its 16th year. Over the course of three days, thousands will take to streets of Jax Beach, beginning with the three-mile Social Shakeout Run on Friday, 8 AM start.

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros.

FEBRUARY 3, 7:30 PM

Florida Theater

One of rock’s most distinctive rhythmic guitarists, Weir found fame as a founding member of the legendary jam band Grateful Dead. Along with his new band the Wolf Bros, Weir is joined by the strings and brass quintet, the Wolfpack, which brings an orchestral element to the groovy tunes that Dead Heads know and love, $59.50

Aretha: The Queen of Soul

FEBRUARY 21, 7 PM

Alhambra Theatre & Dining

Charity Lockhart, hailed as one of the finest vocalists in the country (and she’d have to be to have the courage to tackle this show), stars in this homage to Aretha Franklin— named by Rolling Stone magazine as the “#1 greatest singer of all time.” Show features a ten-piece band and three-course meal, $76.

Anila Quayyum Agha

FEBRUARY 24-APRIL 30

Cummer Museum of Art

Pakistani American contemporary artist Anila Quayyum Agha combines her dual experiences both in her native country and as an immigrant in the U.S. Using embroidery as a drawing medium in the flatworks or via ornately patterned light sculptures, she reveals the multiple layers resulting from the interaction of concept and process and to bridge the gap between modern materials and historical patterns of traditional oppression.

Willie Nelson

FEBRUARY 24 AND 26, 8 PM

St. Augustine Amphitheater

The legendary singer-songwriter behind some of the most iconic country songs is on the road again. Before he earned commercial fame, Nelson was penning hits like “Crazy” for Patsy Cline and “Pretty Paper” for Roy Orbison. A trailblazer, Nelson helped pioneer the subgenre outlaw country which combines Western, honky tonk, and rockabilly. His first show sold out fast, so a second show was added on the 24th, $54-$129

The Beach Boys

FEBRUARY 25, 7:30 PM

St. Augustine Amphitheater

More than sixty years after the release of their first album, the Beach Boys are back with more good vibrations. As one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, The Beach Boys have sold over 100 million records worldwide and popularized surf rock and pop music in America. Led by founding member Mike Love, the band today plays a mix of original songs and classic hits, $44-$114

Journey

FEBRUARY 26, 7:30 PM

VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

Since the group’s formation in 1973,

Jeff Dunham

FEBRUARY 22, 7 PM • VyStar

Veterans Memorial Arena

You know you’re funny when your act as a comedian includes puppets and ventriloquism. Jeff Dunham is darn funny, as shown by his years of filling arenas for his act. He brings his “Still Not Cancelled” tour, likely accompanied by Walter, Peanut and Jose Jalapeño on a Stick, to town, $48-$278

Journey has earned 19 top 40 singles, as well as 25 gold and platinum albums. Their “GreatestHits” album is certified 15 times-platinum, making Journey one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and their song “Don’t Stop Believin’” has been streamed over one billion times, $35-$500

Blake Shelton

MARCH 2, 7 PM

VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

The beloved country artist is going back to the honky tonk with his latest single, “No Body”—a song that became the most added tune at country radio upon release in late 2022. The song is “soaked in ‘90s country vibes,” says Billboard, and its official music video features line-dancing at a country bar, complete with Shelton sporting his signature mullet, $36-$246

Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance

MARCH 2-5

Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

The fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island are lined with hundreds of gorgeous vehicles during this annual showcase of rolling works of art. The 2023 event honors four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon and includes a series of events ranging from auctions of high-dollar collectible cars to cocktail soirees to group road trips—all the time surrounded by prized Porsches, Mercedes, Aston Martins and more.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

MARCH 3, 8 PM

Florida Theater

Back when rock and roll was mostly off-limits to women, Joan Jett was blowing the door to the boys’ club right off its hinges.