Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from beautiful Pleasure Island!

 

This Weekend In Techno Town

Kind of a slow weekend since Halloween this year was during the week.

THU   31OCT      CELINE     DJ duo Sunday Scaries (USA)

FRI     01NOV     CELINE     DJ Bresh (RA)

FRI     01NOV     PALM TREE CLUB     DJ Sigala (GB)  POSTPONED

FRI     01NOV     MORSE CODE     DJ Amber Jane (USA) CANCELLED

SAT    02NOV     MORSE CODE     DJ Gruvgirl (USA) CANCELLED

SAT    02NOV     WALL STREET PLAZA     DJ Loofy (USA) 

CW Update: Remembering 80's Night At The Groove

Couldn't get this card to scan correctly but it was a good memory of when Universal CityWalk began "80's Night at The Groove" in January, 2009. This weekly event began just a few months after Pleasure Island closed so we were hopeful it would be somewhat like 8TRAX. It wasn't. They advertised it as "80's Hair Bands" which meant it was mostly Classic Rock. Admission was free before 10PM at which time their normal $7 admission charge began.

 

PI Update: Sorry, No Clubs Open At PI This Year

As you finalize your Halloween plans, please be aware that all Pleasure Island dance and comedy clubs will be closed this coming Thursday night. You'll have to go to downtown Orlando or perhaps Live! at The Pointe on International Drive where there are clubs that want your business.

Concert Report: DJ Paul Oakenfold (Kali Ultra Lounge)

The legendary DJ Paul Oakenfold (GB) was in Orlando last night and our sister website was there to see him play. The pics can be found on Orlando Entertainment News here.

 

Club Reports: Black Friday @ Manikins v. Memento Mori @ Barbarella 3.0

Last night was the Friday night before Halloween so our sister website Orlando Entertainment News went completely Goth with visits to "Black Friday" with DJ Paul Vaine (USA) above and "Memento Mori" with DJ Lavidicus (USA). All the pics can be found here.

 

Friday Funny

PI Update: HOB SIN Continued On

October, 2009 is 15 years ago this month. And although Pleasure Island had been closed for more than a year, the action continued every Sunday night at House of Blues for their famous Service Industry Night (SIN). The Music: Mannequins-style electronic dance music. Pictured: Resident DJ Sandy (USA) and Resident DJ Jimmy Joslin (USA).

It would get packed like this every Sunday night. Anyone who worked in any service industry job could get in for free, not just those working for the Mouse.

This Weekend In Techno Town

Our listings for the final weekend in October are here.

THU   24OCT     CELINE     DJ MUST DIE! (USA)

FRI     25OCT     HAMMERED LAMB     DJ Ray Keith (GB) & DJ Nookie (GB)

FRI     25OCT     VANGUARD     DJ Oliver Tree (USA)

FRI     25OCT     ELIXIR BAR     DJ Anja (B)

FRI     25OCT     CELINE     DJ Loco Dice (D)

FRI     25OCT     AX TRAP     Memento Mori: DJ Lavidicus (USA)

FRI     25OCT     IRON COW     DJ duo Latenight Society (USA)

SAT    26OCT     KALI ULTRA LOUNGE     DJ Paul Oakenfold (GB)

SAT    26OCT     VINES GRILL & BAR     DJ Mathew Scot (USA)

SAT    26OCT     BIKKURI LOUNGE     DJ Brian Busto (USA)

SAT    26OCT     IRON COW     DJ Nina S (USA) & DJ Dity (USA)

SUN   27OCT     ELIXIR BAR     DJ duo Night Tales (AUS)

CW Update: Pleasure Island VS CityWalk (Part 2)

Yesterday we looked at Pleasure Island's array of dance clubs and today we're going to do the same with Universal's CityWalk. The biggest difference between the two sets is the Pleasure Island closed in 2008 while CityWalk continues to this day. However, CW's main dance club was The Groove but it shuttered during the covid19 closure and never reopened. Instead, it was converted into an escape room. There remains a rumor at CityWalk that the escape room is going to close and The Groove is coming back but we've been hearing that for close to a year and nothing has happened.....yet. During the early years of The Groove, they played a lot of what we now call Classic Dance and some world class DJ's played there. During the later years The Groove was mostly Top 40 and Hip Hop.

With The Groove closed, Red Coconut Club became CityWalk's main dance club. Not really sure what they feel their niche is supposed to be since it's not open nightly and we've even found it closed on weekend nights, at times.When it is open, the music format is mostly Hip Hop.

CityWalk's Rising Star remains a popular karaoke venue and gets crowded. We mention it here among dance clubs because between karaoke sessions a DJ does play Top 40 hits and the dance floor in front of the stage can get pretty jammed.

Latin Quarter was a long-running Latin club late at night once the LQ restaurant closed. While the music was indeed Salsa, Bachata, Merengue and Reggaeton, resident DJ Leony (USA), who also had an EDM mix show on XM Satellite Radio, used to drop EDM sets in here too. It was the closest thing we had at the time to Mannequins. Unfortunately, CityWalk closed LQ and converted the space into a Mexican restaurant.

Bob Marley's A Tribute to Freedom remains in business and is a restaurant that becomes a dance club at night. There is a live band with a DJ between sets and the music from both is nearly all Jamaican Reggae. The dance floor can get crowded. Not mentioned in this article is Pat O'Brien's and Margaritaville. Both have semi-popular bars but no real dance club aspect. As always, we'll report on any changes that might happen including at Universal's Epic Universe theme park which is supposed to open next May.

PI Update: Pleasure Island VS CityWalk (Part 1)

Pleasure Island vs Universal CityWalk is the subject of our article today and today we begin with Pleasure Island. PI consisted of 5 dance clubs and 2 comedy clubs but we're only going to concern ourselves with the dance clubs. PI's primary and most-famous dance club was Mannequins Dance Palace. It's most-famous because it had a large rotating dance floor. In an era before laser lights, Mannequins had an amazing light system that had few competitors, certainly not in Orlando. After PI closed, it was renovated to become Morimoto Asia restaurant.

8TRAX was Pleasure Island's retro club featuring 70's & 80's hits including a lot of Disco. It had multiple levels within but the dance floor was downstairs in a sunken area with a lot of vantage points on the levels above. During the post-PI construction, the front of 8TRAX was shaved-off to become future shops facing Hill Street while the rear section became part of the kitchen of Morimoto. In the middle, we're told there is a no-mans land of sorts that is part of the old 8TRAX standing still in time.

Soundstage Club was the final name for the club fully known as BET Soundstage Club. The original name came from their contract with Black Entertainment Television but the name reverted when the contract expired. This was the club for Soul, Funk and Hip Hop. During the 90's when Hip Hop was the dominate music in the United States, BET would be absolutely jammed with people standing all over the place watching the dancers down on the lower level dance floor. In the final couple years the club stayed kind of empty because everyone had migrated to the club below. During the post-PI renovations, Soundstage was razed.

In the later years of Pleasure Island club Motion had taken over for Soundstage as the place for hit music. Since Motion was a Top 40 club and most of American Top 40 had become Hip Hop, the crowd migrated here. One could over count on the "Cupid Shuffle" at midnight here. After the club closures, the Motion building was demolished.

When Pleasure Island closed, Rock'n'Roll Beach Club had already been closed over 7 months earlier. This was the place to find live Rock bands playing nightly. When PI closed, this building was also razed. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the dance clubs over at CityWalk.

Club Reports: The Capital Room, Grumpys Underground, Aero Bar

Last night sister website Orlando Entertainment News visited 3 dance clubs including a first stop at The Capital Room in Sanford where we saw DJ Johnny Park (USA) tag-teaming with DJ Svengoolie (HELL). All the Saturday night pics can be found here.

 

Club Reports: Aura Night Club, Live! At The Pointe, Oliv Bar, Iron Cow

It's a bit like Pleasure Island and CityWalk in that there are numerous clubs all in one location and you can bounce around. Even better, none of the venues have cover charges. Last night sister website Orlando Entertainment News visited the all new Live! at The Pointe. Pics can be found here.

 

Friday Funny

 

PI Update: Remembering Mannequins

Ten years ago this month the announcement was made that Mannequins was going to become Morimoto Asia restaurant. Since the club closed in September, 2008, it took in excess of 6 years for a replacement to be developed and announced and of course awhile longer to construct it.

Mannequins, Orlando's best nightclub ever. Nothing else like it....ever.

This Weekend In Techno Town

Another loaded weekend in Orlando!

THU   17OCT     AURA NIGHTCLUB     DJ Hedegaard (DK)

FRI     18OCT     VANGUARD     DJ Kai Wachi (USA)    

FRI     18OCT     LIL' INDIES     DJ BMF (USA)

FRI     18OCT     IRON COW     DJ Jody Wisternoff (GB)

SAT    19OCT     ALTIRA POOL     DJ Mike House (USA)  afternoon event

SAT    19OCT     CAPITAL ROOM     DJ Knightlife (USA)

SAT    19OCT     AERO BAR     DJ Nela (USA) & DJ Empress (USA)

SAT    19OCT     WALL STREET PLAZA     DJ Diesel (USA)

SAT    19OCT     GRUMPYS UNDERGROUND     DJ Mizzo (USA)

SAT    19OCT     PALM TREE CLUB     DJ duo Forester (USA) postponed

 

 

 

 

PI Update: Remembering RRBC

When Pleasure Island first opened, the building that would later become Rock'n'Roll Beach Club was home to XZFR Rockin' Rollerdrome, a place where you could strap on a pair of roller skates, drink alcoholic drinks and  then race around the multi-level facility while listening to Rock music.Seemed like a great idea at the time, apparently. That combo didn't last long.

In early 1990 it was rethemed as Rock'n'Roll Beach Club.  It was still a multi-level Rock venue but without the skates! And they had a live Rock band each night. While all the PI dance and comedy clubs closed the night of September 27, 2008, RRBC had closed much earlier on February 2, 2008. It was probably the least-favorite of all the PI clubs and expensive to run with a live band so no one thought that much about it when it closed. Little did we know that a few months later that even bigger announcement would drop!

Downtown Update: Return To AAHZ!

One of Orlando's most-famous events, AAHZ, returns next month to The Beacham downtown on Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, November 27th. You can see the entire lineup on the flyer which includes the originators DJ Kimball Collins (USA) and DJ Dave Cannalte (USA) from Mannequins. DJ Icey (USA) returns as well. Don't miss AAHZ Unity. Advance tickets here.

 

Club Reports: Barbarella 3.0, Iron Cow, Elixir Bar

We saw so many great DJ's last night but a definite highlight was DJ Korolova (UA) at Elixir Bar. Saturday night pics are on sister website Orlando Entertainment News here.

 

Club Reports: Proper, Bullitt Bar, McQueens, The Patio, Inside @ The Patio, The Corner, Monkey Bar

DJ Rincon (USA) at The Corner and DJ Dos Santos (USA) at Monkey Bar were playing EDM and House respectively but we didn't find them until our 6th & 7th stops last night! Check out all the stops on sister website Orlando Entertainment News here.

Friday Funny

PI Update: Long Live 8TRAX!

Several views of 8TRAX taken in October, 2008 or 16 years ago.

These were taken about a month-post closure when the 8TRAX name had been painted over but when the sun reflected just right, one could still see 8TRAX under the black paint.

The lower entrance had 8TRAX removed from the 8-Track player at the rear door but the Pleasure Island name remained. Long live 8TRAX.

This Weekend In Techno Town

We'll update this if there are any cancellations we become aware of.

THU   10OCT     THE SOCIAL     DJ duo Tinzo + Jojo (USA) PPD TO 12DEC

FRI     11OCT     CELINE     DJ duo Ship Wrek (USA)

FRI     11OCT     IRON COW     DJ Freestylers (GB)     CANCELLED 

FRI     11OCT     MORSE CODE     DJ Ethan McCain (USA)

FRI     11OCT     VANGUARD     DJ Eptic (B)

SAT    12OCT     IRON COW     DJ Roni Size (GB)

SAT    12OCT     CAPITAL ROOM     DJ Knightlife (USA)

SAT    12OCT     ELIXIR BAR     DJ Korolova (UA) 

DS Update: Aerophile Balloon To Be Emptied

The Aerophile tethered-balloon ride (formerly called Characters In Flight) which operates from Disney Springs West Side has been emptied of its helium supply in anticipation of Hurricane Milton's arrival in the area.

 

DS Update: Monitoring Hurricane Milton

Disney Announcement: Walt Disney World Resort is currently operating under normal conditions. We are closely monitoring the path of the projected storm as we continue to prioritize the safety of our Guests and Cast Members. TUESDAY PM UPDATE: Disney is closing its theme parks and Disney Springs in phases beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Disney is considering reopening Disney Springs on Thursday in the late afternoon with limited offerings.

Club Reports: Rodeo, Rivals Activity Bar, Pretty Please, Arena Art Bar, Hammered Lamb, Barbarella 3.0

Sister website Orlando Entertainment News made so many stops last night but a definite highlight was seeing Deejay Shaolin (USA), DJ Amber Jane (USA) and DJ Magic Mike (USA) at a Breaks show. Check out all the photos on OEN here.

 

Club Report: Bond Room @ London House

London House is a private club in the Sand Lake Road area but unless you're an invited guest of a member, the cover charge is $100. Our sister website Orlando Entertainment News visited last night for their Oktoberfest party and the photos are here.

 

Friday Funny

 

PI Update: There's Nothing To Do Here

As you know, last week we posted a reminder of the 16th anniversary of Pleasure Island clubs being shuttered. Located at the entrance to PI by the No. 2 Bridge, this sign used to greet arrivals and it stood up until the final night. It advertised all the clubs with their logos.

On October 3rd, 2008, just a few days after the clubs closed, this is what that same sign looked like. Passersby stood in awe thinking "there's nothing to do here".

This Weekend In Techno Town

October coming in like a lion!

THU   03OCT     ELIXIR BAR     DJ Korman (AUS) 

THU   03OCT     TACO KAT     DJ duo Cocodrills (USA)

FRI     04OCT     CELINE     DJ RL Grime (USA)

FRI     04OCT     FALCON BAR     DJ Smilin' Dan (USA)

SAT    05OCT     HAMMERED LAMB     DJ X (USA) & DJ Mizzo (USA)

SAT    05OCT     KIA CENTER     Freestyle Explosion: Expose' (USA) +more

SAT    05OCT     VANGUARD     DJ Virtual Riot (D)

SAT    05OCT     ELIXIR BAR     DJ duo INVT (USA)

SUN   06OCT     ELIXIR BAR     DJ Matt Sassari (F)      

PI Update: Sad Mannequins

This is sadly how Mannequins looked in October, 2014.