The Jayhawks bring their 40th-year tour to the 278-seat Key West Theater

Touring behind 'Sanctuary Park,' the band plays one of the smallest rooms on its run on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2027.

There are 278 seats in Key West Theater. On Thursday, Feb. 25, 2027, one of them could be yours for a night with The Jayhawks, a band in its 40th year. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are sold through the theater's own site. The date was announced Oct. 27.

A band four decades in, with a new record to play, in a room that size: that's the stake, and it doesn't come around often.

The record is Sanctuary Park, which came out Aug. 28 on Thirty Tigers. BrooklynVegan announced it alongside the lead track "Keeping Our Heads Above Water," and American Songwriter has followed the band's plans for the album and the touring around it. It's their 12th album, produced by Bob Ezrin, and the band has been on the road behind it since summer.

The tour carries the same name. Venues on the route bill it as the Sanctuary Park Tour: Celebrating 40 Years of The Jayhawks, from the Boch Center in Boston to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and Hennepin Arts back in Minneapolis. The Boch Center's listing says the band is touring throughout the world in the fall of 2026 and spring of 2027, and the Key West date sits right at the front edge of that spring stretch.

Look at those other rooms and the Key West booking stands out. This fall, the band has been playing theaters and town halls in big cities. In February, it plays a theater that holds 278. JamBase files the band under rock, folk and pop, and that mix — guitars, harmonies, songs with a melody you can carry out the door — is exactly the kind of music that benefits from being heard up close.

For Key West, a stop like this is also about timing. Late February is high season in the Keys, when the island is at its fullest and the weather at its best. A Thursday show in a room this size, in that week, is going to be competitive for locals and visitors alike.

A 40th-anniversary tour is by design a look back as well as forward. Expect a set that leans on the new album, since that's what the tour is built around, with the band's long history giving it depth. In a room this small, you'll hear every harmony and see every glance between players, which is a different experience entirely from catching them in a big hall.

There's no price listed yet in our data, so check the theater's page for current tickets. Whatever the number, the math is simple: 278 seats, one night, a band marking 40 years. If you've ever wanted to see The Jayhawks somewhere you can hear the strings squeak, this is the one to plan around. Buy early, then go get a drink on Duval and walk over.

Sources: The Jayhawks announce new album, tour, listen to 'Keeping Our Heads Above Water' (BrooklynVegan) (brooklynvegan.com); The Jayhawks announce new tour dates (American Songwriter) (americansongwriter.com); Sanctuary Park Tour: Celebrating 40 Years of The Jayhawks (Boch Center) (bochcenter.org); Sanctuary Park Tour: Celebrating 40 Years of The Jayhawks (Country Music Hall of Fame) (countrymusichalloffame.org); The Jayhawks 2026 (Hennepin Arts) (hennepinarts.org); Key West Theater (thekeywesttheater.com); The Jayhawks at Key West Theater (JamBase) (jambase.com)