Jim Messina returns to Key West Theater for the first time since 2023

Nearly four years after his last Keys show, the Buffalo Springfield, Poco and Loggins & Messina veteran is back in the 278-seat room on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

The last time Jim Messina stood on the Key West Theater stage was a Friday night in February 2023. Almost four years later, he is coming back: Rams Head Presents lists Jim Messina at Key West Theater on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2027, at 8 p.m., a date announced Oct. 13.

That 2023 show, on Feb. 17, was also a Rams Head production, and it is still the most recent time Messina played the Keys. Pricing for the January date wasn't visible when we checked, so watch the AXS event page, which is where tickets for the room are sold.

The room is the point. Key West Theater holds 278, and AXS notes that most performances there are reserved seating. For a songwriter whose catalog runs this deep, that is about as close as a paying audience gets.

For a songwriter whose catalog runs this deep, 278 seats is about as close as it gets.

And it does run deep. By the account on Messina's own site, he came into Buffalo Springfield as a recording engineer on *Buffalo Springfield Again*, then took over on bass from Bruce Palmer. When that band broke up, he and Richie Furay formed Poco; his last appearance with Poco came in October 1970. That same year, Columbia asked him to work with Kenny Loggins. The resulting album, *Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In*, came out in November 1971, and what started as a production job turned into Loggins & Messina, a duo his site credits with eight hit albums and more than 16 million records sold. The two reunited for shows in 2005, a run captured on *Loggins & Messina Live: Sittin' In Again at the Santa Barbara Bowl*.

There has been a long solo career since, along with a lot of producing and engineering for other people, and a live record, *Here, There & Everywhere*, made with his band The Road Runners.

What has changed since 2023? Mostly, the calendar has filled in around this date. January 2027 finds Messina working through Florida: the Broward Center lists him at its Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, Jan. 16, as part of its Cleveland Clinic Rock Series. Key West gets him first, on a Tuesday in the heart of the winter season, which makes it a night for locals to grab seats early.

What to expect is harder to pin down from a listing, and we would rather not guess at a setlist. What's safe to say is that a night with Messina draws on three bands' worth of material and a career spent both behind the console and in front of the microphone. In a 278-seat room, the guitar playing alone is worth the trip.

Nearly four years is a long gap for an artist who has already shown he fits this room. Tuesday, Jan. 12, is a good night to close it.

Sources: Key West Events - Rams Head Presents (ramsheadpresents.com); Jim Messina at Key West Theater, Jan 12, 2027 - AXS (axs.com); Jim Messina at Key West Theater, Feb 17, 2023 - AXS (axs.com); Key West Theater - AXS venue page (axs.com); Jim Messina's Bio (jimmessina.com); Buffalo Springfield - Jim Messina (jimmessina.com); POCO - Jim Messina (jimmessina.com); Loggins and Messina (1971-1976) - Jim Messina (jimmessina.com); Loggins and Messina (2005 & 2009) - Jim Messina (jimmessina.com); Jim Messina - Broward Center (browardcenter.org)