Concert Report: DJ Snake (Venue 578)

Going in to Venue 578 last night I realized that I hadn't been here in awhile.  Nothing against the place, just hadn't been any DJ shows that interested me.

12:30AM passed and no sign of the headliner.

Arriving fashionably late and finally going on at 1AM, DJ Snake (F).

He never removed his signature sunglasses.

Known for mixing Hip Hop with EDM, that's exactly what he did.

Club was packed!

I expected a somewhat older crowd but that was not to be.

Dancing wherever you could!

Spotted in VIP: DJ Jimmy Joslin (USA).  I'm used to being in a club and knowing twenty people or so.  Last night he was the only person I knew in the place!

Playing part of current Dance hit "Lean On" with Major Lazer ft. MØ.

Really too much Hip Hop overall for my tastes.

The gathered crowd disagreed!

 They brought in extra AC last night so the club was nice and comfy despite the crowd!

Upcoming shows at Venue 578 include Zed's Dead (CDN) on August 6th, DJ Caskey (CDN) on August 14th and Duke Dumont (GB) on October 28th!

I couldn't stay for the whole show so I missed his megahit "Turn Down For What ft. Lil Jon" if he played it.

Nonetheless, a good time was had by all!

PI Update: What About The Tunnels?

Hill Street on Pleasure Island began here at the Hub adjacent Rock'n'Roll Beach Club.  Climbing uphill, it would take you past 8TRAX and the Missing Link Sausage Company towards Adventurers Club, Comedy Warehouse and BET Soundstage.  But would it also did is take you from the Island's ground level onto the Island's upper level.

With BET Soundstage now razed, one can see the hidden lower level which used to contain PI offices as well as a cast member break area / snack bar.  This supposedly will also be home to The Tunnels.

As you can see, this lower area has been gutted too and we expect anything built here to be done in conjunction with plans for The Edison.  Disney has not released any information about The Tunnels or even acknowledged it; we only know about it because mention of it appeared on a LinkedIn page of an Edison Orlando exec.  We're hoping it will be some sort of nightlife area where adults can enjoy themselves down below while the strollers pass by above!

DTD Update: Garage Exit Ramp

Work continues on the inbound overpass that will bring Downtown Disney guests westbound on I-4 directly into the West (Orange) Garage.  But notice the lower level of that overpass by the pillars?

Here it is.  Guests exiting the upper levels of the garage are currently directed out of the car park complex this way.

And that ramp leads directly onto westbound Buena Vista Drive.  If you want to go eastbound on BVD, as far as I could tell, you have to go to the next light (Cirque entrance road) and make a U-turn.

DTD Update: Town Center Goes Huge!

Most of the shopping at Disney Springs Town Center will be of the outdoor variety.  By this we mean you would stroll from building to building outside with stores facing outdoor pedestrian walkways.  But we know at least one building will be more of the indoor style with an indoor air conditioned mall and shops facing inward as shown in the concept art above.

This is not a surprise.  Older concept art has shown this building since last year.

And there she is!  This mall-type structure is actually huge as seen from the Blog's exclusive SkyCam!

And so it is with most of the other buildings being built out there in the former Pleasure Island parking lot.  They're massive!

One of the smaller ones facing the springs.

More multi-level structures going up for your shopping pleasure (no pun intended).

Another view including the new East Garage at the rear.

The action continues between T-REX Cafe and World of Disney too.

Supposedly Sprinkles Cupcakes is going into this spring-front property.

Ground view of this prime spot.

Another ground view looking west.

And one final SkyCam view putting many of the new buildings into perspective with each other.  They will be home to stores such as Zara, Tommy Bahama, Lilly Pulitzer, UNIQLO, Pandora, UGG's, L'Occitaine en Provence and Edward Beiner.  And hopefully many more surprises.

PI Update: Island From The Air

Returning once again to beautiful Pleasure Island to give you the latest pics!

And using our exclusive SkyCam, we see the shell of Adventurers Club standing.

In case you missed the news, this shell will become the framework for The Edison Orlando, a combination restaurant with nightclub aspects.

Across West End Plaza, the all new shell of STK Steakhouse.

Other STK locations offer DJ nightlife and we're told this one will too.

This is located roughly where Comedy Warehouse used to stand.

In our opening photo above, you can see Paradiso 37 as it used to look.  This is what it looks like now with it's expansion still in progress.

The expansion will give diners some waterview options plus much-needed capacity to compete with the other new restaurants on the Island.  The additions are not exactly pretty but we believe, purposefully so.

8TRAX is still there.  I can hear "Funkytown" playing right now.  This will apparently be the entrance into Morimoto Asia restaurant in Mannequins. If you click on the photo and expand it a couple times, you can see the small Asian-inspired sign on the roof near the front.

And then there's Mannequins!

Musical moving construction walls now have reopened the way in front of the venue.

And we can see some of that new brickwork we showed you last week at the base of the former bridge from the Pleasure Island parking lot.

We get a nice side view now.  The Blog has often stated that this building was ill-suited for anything but the dance club that it was. So it will be interesting to see how this restaurant makes a go of its massive space.

Looking back towards the Hub.

This area adjacent Raglan Road is now blocked.

The Boathouse is located where club Motion used to stand.

For those with money to burn, there are the Amphicar rides.

Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar should be opening relatively soon.

Workers were toiling in the hot Florida sun this weekend.

More decoration added.  This is on the west side facing the new Water Taxi dock.

On the east side, this target is in the entryway between the interior and Reggie the outside boat bar.

Lastly, we take a look at the Fulton's Crab House which supposedly is closing in January to be reconfigured into a new restaurant concept.  With The Boathouse, no reason to have two primarily seafood restaurants next to each other. (Tomorrow on the Blog we take to the air again and look at the massive scale of Disney Springs new Town Center.)