Downtown Nightlife: The Elbow

About six months ago, a promoter that I'm close with, named Trey Hebron, came up with a brilliant strategy to get people to come to our burgeoning downtown nightlife: Brand the area as "The Elbow". Pretty quickly, I recognized the potential for this idea and offered Black Key's support for the project. One thing led to another and I ended up a partner in the initiative and have been gearing up for our April 20th launch, during Jacksonville's version of the World's Fair: One Spark.

Local website, DowntownJacksonville.org wrote a really nice piece on the movement and I'm feeling more invigorated than ever about this idea. You can read the article below, or at it's original location, HERE.

Downtown Jacksonville’s The Elbow 

The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to your thigh bone, and the elbow’s connected to…Ocean and Bay Street?

Now, The Elbow is more than a body part, it’s a series of nightlife venues located in the entertainment district Downtown which has developed around the Florida Theatre.

Trey Hebron, talent buyer for 1904 Music Hall, thought of the concept after realizing a fresh, new branding was needed for the entertainment district, similar to what Tallahassee has with “The Strip.” After tossing the name around between friends, Grant Nielsen of Black Key Designs jumped on board to help take the initiative to the next level.

Also launched by 1904 Music Hall is The Connection, an inexpensive, round-trip bus service from the Beaches “over-the-ditch” to Downtown. Started in February, it is now in its experimental stage, running on select nights and will expand further into the Elbow. Fares are $5 a trip. Recently, The Connection has partnered with Bus To Show, which works to reduce intoxicated driving while  building a community among event-goers and fundraising. It’s definitely a great pre-party for the evening.

Downtown Throwdown, presented by Folio Weekly, kicked off last month and takes place every third Thursday, featuring free live music in nine of The Elbow venues from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. This month, don’t miss the Launch Party during One Spark on April 20th, where the brand new website featuring The Elbow initiatives, an events calendar, event previews, concert reviews, album reviews, venue profiles and much more will be unveiled. The Launch Party starts at noon and lasts until 2 a.m. with a huge FREE show at 1904 Music Hall.

Who doesn’t want to be Downtown? There are local brews and specialty cocktails to drink, DJs and live music to dance the night away each night of the week in The Elbow. If you’re not down here any night of the week, you’re definitely missing out.

The bars of The Elbow include: 1904 Music Hall, Burrito Gallery, Burro Bar, Chomp Chomp, ClubTSIDiscotheque, LIT Downtown, Mark’s Downtown Club/Lounge, Northstar “The Pizza Bar” and Underbelly.