Club Reports: Rare Martini, Nana Funks (Birmingham)

In Birmingham, Alabama to visit a friend and checking out some clubs on a Saturday night.  Began the search at The Rare Martini in the Lakeview Entertainment District.

DJ Angoti was in the booth spinning mostly Top 40 videos.

This was as crowded as the dance floor would get during my visit.  Learned that Birmingham is a bar town but not much of a club town.  A nearby Irish bar and the local branch of Tin Roof, both with live bands, were packed.

Sarah in the venue's Bar No. 3 clued-me in on the local scene.  Thank you!

Alabama takes all the fun out of clubbing.

Nana Funks was next door and as a private club, they could stay open until 6AM!

Birmingham's DJ Matrix was in the booth spinning 80's, 90's and Hip Hop.

This was the crowd at midnight but I was told that after 2AM, when everything else has to close, this place gets packed!

Interesting place.

But I'm happy to return to O-Town.

Club Reports: Peek Downtown, Vyce Lounge, Bikkuri Lounge

Suite B Lounge has a new name and a new look. It's been renamed Peek Downtown and everything has been painted white!

But it's still Orlando's home of Breakbeats and such was the case last night when I arrived to see DJ duo Rogue Planet in the booth.

Dance floor was jamming relatively early.

And it would continue to fill as it got later.

Spotted at the bar: DJ Nikita of Phat Kidz with Scotty S.

Spotted in VIP: Promoter LadyV & DJ Funkbaby.

Legendary DJ D-Xtreme taking over at midnight.

While I switched over to Vyce Lounge.

Another legend, DJ Carlos Mendoza pumping out House!

And at midnight Tampa's DJ Tony Puccio taking over.

People dancing wherever to his House/Dance mix.

You can never go wrong with Go Go girls!

Overall a light crowd compared to some that I've seen here.

Next stop after 1AM for Bikkuri Sushi, the restaurant with secret dance club upstairs!

The last Friday of every month is "Lost In Trancelation" night and this month's guest DJ was Thomas Datt (USA/PL)!

Decent crowd on the dance floor!

Spotted on the dance floor: Sage Sappho with DJ Suzy Solar (USA).

Playing completely off CD's, Thomas Datt's set was all non-vocal Trance.

Spotted by the booth: Denise True with DJ J-13.

At all the clubs I visited last night, a good time was had by all!

PI Update: New Observatory Concept Art

This new piece of Disney Springs concept art has been posted directly in front of Planet Hollywood and displays what it will look like post-renovations when it becomes Planet Hollywood Observatory.  Notice the ground level entry building as well as the exterior observation tower overlooking the bubbling springs to the rear.  We're told renovations begin in January.

PI Update: STK And Potatoes.......And Tunnels

Originally we thought that the old-fashioned railroad station looking building being constructed on Pleasure Island was going to be the new upscale STK Restaurant but we quickly learned it was just the new restroom complex.  So where is STK actually going to be?

A source told us long ago that it was going where Comedy Warehouse used to be.  And that does seem to be the case, with construction finally just beginning.  This is behind the construction wall at West End Plaza.  Like CW, it would have entryways on both Pleasure Island's upper and lower levels.  We're excited about it not only for some great steaks and potatoes, but also live DJ's that will be performing there later at night!

Speaking of tunnels, this appears to be the entryway (ground level behind the new restroom complex) into the mysterious project known as "The Tunnels Orlando".

Hopefully an underground evening-only adult nightlife district.

An alternate entryway via the stairs outside Adventurers Club / The Edison Orlando.

Breaking News: BET Soundstage Roof & Restroom Demolition

Breaking news from Pleasure Island: Demolition of the roof structure of BET Soundstage Club has begun!

Workers have been out this week removing the metal roof decking.

Leaving behind the horizontal ridge trusses.

Save Pleasure Island Blog exclusive SkyCam view.  Disney Springs concept art shows a building here that looks roughly like the former club, just with a different roof structure.

Thus, we don't expect the BET building to be razed, just the existing roof.

However, we expect the former WC complex next door to be completely demolished.

It's not in the concept art and a new restroom complex opened recently directly across West End Plaza from it.

This Weekend In Techno Town

FRIDAY MAY 29
Final Friday of the month means Lost in Trancelation night at Bikkuri Lounge and this month they have DJ Thomas Datt (PL/USA).  A night of real Trance that includes DJ's Suzy Solar, Robb Blak and Exosun! Should be a great one!

Friday nights at Vyce Lounge means House music and such is the case this weekend with Tampa's DJ Tony Puccio in the mix with resident DJ Carlos Mendoza opening.

Suite B Lounge has been replaced by Peek Downtown but it remains the home to Breakbeats.  Friday night they've got a great lineup that includes Phatkidz, Mike Nice, DJ Funkbaby and D-Xtreme.  We'll be checking it the new venue for the Blog!

SATURDAY MAY 30
More Breaks are in store on Saturday night as the NLP DJ group hits Native Social Bar for the first time including DJ Matrix, Beni Hill and MX.  Resident DJ's Jimmy Joslin and Justin Faze also in the mix! 

Deep House can be found at The Phoenix night at The Crow.  DJ's Fobia, Nusense and Chris Tavi will be the deliverers!

He'll be playing at EDC-Las Vegas next month but this weekend Gilt Nightclub has House/Dance from DJ NGHTMRE (USA).

PI Update: Near Misses

Last week the Blog bragged about the 2009 prediction that Rock'nRoll Beach Club and Motion would get torn down and a lighthouse-style restaurant would be coming to Pleasure Island to replace them.  Of course The Boathouse now stands exactly where our sources told us it was going.  Today we look at other Schussler Creative restaurants that the Blog speculated might be coming in this September, 2009 article.  One of them was Backfire BBQ featuring Orange County Choppers.  This one never happened.  Perhaps the agreement with tenant Harley Davidson prevented it.  But we did get The Smokehouse BBQ walk-up restaurant at House of Blues instead.

We also speculated several times that Hot Dog Hall of Fame was coming to PI.  This never happened either but a similar concept with the same name did end up opening at Universal CityWalk.

Aerobleu is a aeronautical concept from Schussler that we speculated could be part of the mix on a reinvigorated Pleasure Island.  It's not coming but aviation-themed The Hangar (specifically Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar) is coming instead.  And instead of a post-WWII theme, we're getting a pre-WWII Indiana Jones/Adventurers theme.  I think that's a win.

Lastly we listed Winter Wonderland, a restaurant where it's winter all the time and Water Fire Ice, a polar lounge. There are already two ice bars along International Drive, so the latter would certainly be redundant.  As for a restaurant that features winter, it still seems like a cool idea!