This Weekend In Techno Town

After an incredibly jammed NBA All-Star weekend in Orlando last week, Techno Town returns to normal for this coming weekend with clubs generally back to their normal events and normal cover charges.  Just a couple special events to report:

FRIDAY MARCH 2
Tampa's DJ Bella joins hubby DJ Agent K (both USA) for a night of mostly Breakbeat action at Suite B Lounge.  A tag team event, taking turns with a number of other DJ's including local favorites Funk Baby and Adam Bomb.  $5. 

Also on Friday over at Senso is DJ Wally Lopez (E) who mixes his "nerd glasses" with House and Progressive House and a world-wide following!  First visit to O-Town that I'm aware of; he's also playing at Jackson's in Tampa on Saturday night. To give you an idea how big this guy is, he's playing opening night at Club Space in Ibiza in May! $15.

CW Update: 80's Night At The Groove Cancelled

After a 3-year run on Thursday nights, CityWalk is pulling the plug on their 80's Night at The Groove event. The event premiered on January 29, 2009 which was just a few months after Pleasure Island clubs closed and was designed to draw 8TRAX fans. It featured DJ Doc Wells from 8TRAX. There were a lot of crowded Thursday nights but there were also a lot of duds. Groove management tells the Blog that even with the duds the night was pulling in more revenue than they used to make on Thursday nights. And to be fair, the duds were usually off-season and on cold or rainy Thursday nights. About a year ago they introduced a few 70's Disco tunes into the mix but it was minimal and the night never did draw many 8TRAX patrons.
The final 80's Night will be on March 15th. Big thanks to our roving reporter Thommy who alerted us to this cancellation.

Post Script: Studio 54 vs Retro Room

When Sirius/XM invited me to attend their one-night-only reopening of Studio 54 in New York last October, it definitely became my top Disco night ever! Being able to party in the greatest discotheque ever can never be replicated! 

I'm certainly not going to say the 8TRAX Reunion at Retro Room matched that experience, lol. But it was pretty damn good nonetheless and there's a lot to be said for partying with so many PI friends! Retro Room has the potential for great success but IMO it still has to reach Disney CM's and Orlando tourists and get them to come over. Spring Break and summer tourist seasons are coming quickly. If they can get just some of them to come out to party, they can replicate this past weekend every weekend. And wouldn't that be groovy?

Vote Now For The International Dance Music Awards

The International Dance Music Awards (IDMA) ceremony takes place next month at Winter Music Conference (WMC) in Miami Beach and you can help select who is going to win.  The finalists have been selected and are on the ballot so go to this link and vote now! Deadline March 1st.  Please note that you must include your email address to vote which is only used to confirm your entry plus invite you to vote next year.

Club Report: Retro Room (8TRAX REUNION - Second Night)

The 8TRAX Reunion event continued Saturday night at Retro Room with about twice as many people in attendance compared to Friday night! (DOUBLE CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE ALL PICTURES.)

Resident DJ Pete Haynes (8TRAX, Motion, BET Soundstage, Mannequins) was back in the booth putting out mostly 70's Disco but also 80's Classics and even some early 90's Classic Dance.

The bar area was jammed!

The dance floor was jammed!

Boogie fever!

8TRAX!

8TRAX!  (Also won The Hustle contest.)

Midnight at 8TRAX always meant it was time for 'YMCA'!

Y  — arms outstretched and raised upwards

M  — made by bending elbows from the 'Y' pose so fingertips meet over the chest

C  — arms extended to the left

A  — hands held together above head

Doin' the Soul Train!

It was a tough battle of T vs A, so both were declared co-winners of the 70's costume contest!

Meanwhile in the 80's costume contest, Marty McFly snatched victory from MJ!

Spotted:  Shawn (AirTran Airways) voted best hair in the club!

TUI!

Getting down disco style!

Mannequins!

Love, peace & soul!  A great time with lots of PI friends.  Nice meeting so many of you.  Keep in mind that Retro Room takes you back to the 70's & 80's every week so check them out!

Club Report: Retro Room (8TRAX REUNION - First Night)

First of two nights at Retro Room for the first ever 8TRAX Reunion.  I figured Saturday night of the 2-night event would be crowded but I did not know what to expect for Friday night.  I found out that it was lots of people and lots of fun!

Former 8TRAX DJ Pete (Motion, Mannequins, BET Soundstage) was on the controls which were being operated from the more-visible side stage area rather than up in the booth!

Part of the early crowd kept the dance floor busy from early in the evening!

8TRAX!

8TRAX!

8TRAX!

Led by former 8TRAX door host Thommy, it was 'YMCA' at midnight!

Thommy also led the 'Thriller' dance at 12:30am!  He's performed this several times at 80's Night at The Groove in CityWalk but it's always alone.  At RR last night a large group joined right in!

DJ Pete stayed active throughout the event, roving all over the club with his microphone.

8TRAX!

DJ Pete congratulates the 80's & 70's costume contest winners!!

Doin' The Bump!  Come out for the second night of the 8TRAX Reunion tonight at Retro Room!

PI Update: Hyperion Wharf Cancelled!

When Pleasure Island club-building demolitions and improvements were put on hold last year, we weren't sure if the Hyperion Wharf concept was simply being postponed or actually cancelled. But sources are now telling the Save Pleasure Island Blog that Hyperion Wharf has indeed been cancelled, to be reworked into an entirely different concept. We're told that third-party merchants and others at the Boardwalk complained loudly when the Hyperion Wharf concept was first announced, arguing that it was too close to what the Boardwalk concept was already offering.

Quite true. Here is how Disney described Hyperion Wharf when it was announced: "The district will come to life with a nostalgic yet modern take on an early 20th century port city and amusement pier." Here is how Disney currently describes the Boardwalk: "Disney's Boardwalk is designed after boardwalks that were famous during the turn of the 20th century." Apparently there is agreement that Disney World doesn't need two of the same thing and that it would create Guest confusion. So HW is finished.

When will we hear about Plan C? No one seems to know. Long live Pleasure Island!

8TRAX Reunion Tonight & Saturday Night

Relive your weekend nights at beautiful Pleasure Island with the first ever 8TRAX Reunion event taking place tonight and tomorrow night at Retro Room.  Original 8TRAX DJ Pete Haynes will be spinning 70's Disco & 80's R&B/Classics. Free admission, drink specials, 'YMCA' at midnight and Blog roving reporter Thommy will be doing 'The Thriller'. Prizes for best costumes both nights. Retro Room is located near Disney World on US 192, west of I-4 and TOLL 429 and just east of US 27.  **UNOFFICIAL EVENT**  RETRO ROOM AND SAVE PLEASURE ISLAND BLOG ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY.  8TRAX IS A TRADEMARK OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AND IS USED HERE TO PUBLICIZE AN EVENT FOR FANS OF THE FORMER NIGHT CLUB.   

Zedd vs Zeds Dead

As a service to our readers and to help alleviate the confusion that exists out there, the Blog presents the difference between Zedd and Zeds Dead!

Zedd is a DJ/Producer from Germany.  He is a one man operation specializing in Electrohouse and Dubstep. He played in Orlando last September at club Vain.  He has a hit out right now called 'Slam The Door' which is getting airplay on EDM stations.  It's one of those songs that's not "safe for the little ears" so you won't be hearing it on that Z-station. Keep in mind that the letter "Z" in German is pronounced like "TS" so you should pronounce his name like "Tsed".


Meanwhile, Zeds Dead is a DJ/Producer duo from Canada. They specialize in Dubstep.  A recent hit of theirs was a Dubstep version of the Rock classic, White Satin. Zeds Dead will be performing at The Beacham on March 21st.  Keep in mind that in Canada the last letter of the alphabet, the one we pronounce "zee", is pronounced "zed". But "zee" is gaining favor (favour) north of the border.  Thus, the name.


Got it straight now? Good.....wait a sec. I'd better go check my notes and make sure I didn't give this to you backwards!  

PI Update: It Was A Dark & Stormy Night

The proverbial calm before the storm. But what better place to spend it than beautiful Pleasure Island!

Who would not want to pass through these doors again and hop on the revolving dance floor? (although that puddle in the corner speaks of possible problems inside!)

The Lily Pad area sure looked purdy.

Plans for PI show the main pedestrian walkway passing through this current service court located between Portabello and Raglan Road.  But absolutely nothing new is going on at PI at this time and an Island source tells the Blog that they're not likely to announce anything until after Splitsville opens.

But speaking of Splitsville, a reader recently pointed out to us the lack of renovation-activity inside the building. Sure enough, if you look inside, you can see the interior has been gutted but that project  concluded weeks ago and nothing is happening!  Makes you wonder why construction would come to a complete stop when they have an announced opening of Fall, 2012.  With March arriving next week, there is no way they will open on time!

This (All-Star) Weekend In Techno Town

There is an absolutely crazy weekend coming up in the Orlando area and once again Disney is going to miss out on the nightlife action because they have so little to offer.  As probably everyone knows, the 2012 NBA All-Star Game takes place Sunday night at Amway Center with more than 19,000 expected. Earlier in the day, NASCAR's top auto race, the Daytona 500, takes place just up I-4 in Daytona Beach and with 230,000 expected, lots of them are staying in Orlando! Another 40,0000 expected for the Princess Half Marathon at Disney World. The theme parks will be packed!

Both events are huge excuses to go party!  Many Orlando clubs are booked for private events and you aren't getting in without a special ticket!  The music is Hip Hop-oriented at most special events. Some are tied-in with NBA players such as Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic appearing Thursday night at Roxy, LeBron James of the Miami Heat appearing Saturday night at the Church Street Station Ball Room and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls appearing Saturday night at Bliss. Shaquille O'Neal is hosting a comedy jam at Hard Rock Live, with two shows nightly Friday and Saturday nights. Some events are tied-in with Hip Hop celebrities such as Chris Brown at Roxy on Saturday night and Mary J. Blige/R. Kelly at Majestic Lounge on Sunday night. Official details, prices and ordering information from the sponsor of many of these events, Orlando All-Star Weekend, can be found here.

If you want to stay away from it all on Saturday night, consider Bob Marley's birthday party at CityWalk or DJ Mark Sanchez at Club V.  Better yet, come hang out with me at the very first 8TRAX Reunion taking place at Retro Room!  Meanwhile, Pleasure Island could have been jammed, would have been jammed, ain't gonna be jammed, except perhaps with strollers passing through! (PHOTO COURTESY OF DJ PETE HAYNES)

PI Update: Remembering Motion

As you know, the 8TRAX Reunion is taking place this weekend but let's not forget the overall Pleasure Island Reunion taking place at Atlantic Dance Hall on Saturday, March 24th!  Past PI Reunions have included some music from Mannequins, 8TRAX and BET Soundstage but overall the music played at past reunions has been the music played at Motion: Top 40 & Hip Hop.

But with so much of Top 40 now dominated by Dance music, it's sure to be a good time!

Motion memories: DJ Talie putting out the hits including the 'Cupid Shuffle' and 'Cha Cha Slide' at midnight!

Considering the large dance floor, the place would usually get jammed!

After the PI clubs were closed, Motion was offered for private events and this picture taken during June, 2009 was a Gay Days event featuring DJ Manny Lehman (USA). Many subsequent events would take place in here but they were Disney employee-related banquets and award ceremonies.

In December, 2010, demolition of Motion began and by the end of January, Motion was gone!