Underbelly: Where Jacksonville Gets Loud

113 East Bay Street, downtown. Dark mid-sized room beneath a restaurant, sound system tuned for volume, booking that favors bands trying to knock the ceiling off. Punk, metal, indie, hip-hop, electronic — the genre rotates, the energy stays high.

Concrete floor, black walls, lighting exists to illuminate the stage and nothing else. Bar serves beer and well drinks without pretension. Jacksonville's music scene is larger than its national profile suggests — Lynyrd Skynyrd, Limp Bizkit, and Yellowcard, a range no other city claims — and Underbelly is where the next generation assembles, one Wednesday at a time.

Shows start late (10 PM weekends). If you're there at nine, you're early, which means the bar to yourself and the bartender's full attention.