Club Reports: The Abbey, Iron Cow, Still Lounge, Palm Tree Club, The Vanguard

We began our Friday night in Orlando's "Lake Eola" district at The Abbey Event Center where the an 80's-themed fundraiser was taking place.

We didn't know what to expect but we walked into this!

The band was on break when we first arrived but some great 80's New Wave was being played, delivered by DJ Ira (USA).

All the prerecorded music last night being played off vinyl.

The Abbey doesn't have a shiny disco ball so the DJ brought his own!

Spotted on the mezzanine: Shelley with Travis

Spotted in VIP: DJ Swagkerr (USA) with Maddy. Swagkerr reminds everyone about the EPYKLANDIA hotel takeover event taking place over EDC weekend. There will be 3 days and nights of music taking place on multiple stages at the Opal Hotel and Suites in Altamonte Springs and passes are available with or without a hotel room. Our upcoming OEN article will feature all the daily flyers. Breaks and DnB will dominate the event so you don't want to miss it. In the meantime, get the deets HERE.

Spotted in the booth: DJ Ira with Vanessa

And then the band came back on. Lovesong (USA) The Cure Tribute Band.

We heard some Depeche Mode (GB), some Duran Duran (GB) and The Smiths (GB) and of course The Cure (GB) among others.

A super-fun beginning to our Friday night!

All kinds of events take place at The Abbey but our favorite is the quarterly "Gimme Gimme Disco" 70's Night. The next one is on Friday, November 21st with advance tickets HERE.

We next headed over to Orlando's "Milk District", home to the Iron Cow.

We walked into this.

DJ Ginza (USA) was in the booth when we arrived.

The music at this "SHADE" event, Techno!

Iron Cow has a shiny disco ball so you know they're legit.

DJ Carlos Mendoza (USA) would be playing later last night, spotted outside here with Corinne. Carlos is also opening the neonGARDEN stage at EDC-Orlando with a 2 hour set! Some of the others playing Friday on that stage include Adam Beyer (S), Kevin de Vries (D) and Miss Monique (UA). Because Factory93 means Techno, Techno, Techno!

Spotted inside: DJ Prospvct (USA) with Kiana

The bar was already busy. The Techno crowd is a late crowd so we don't doubt it would get jammed later. But we had to be moving on.

We next headed over to Orlando's "Tourist" district along International Drive, home to Live! at the Pointe. Many locals want nothing to do with this area of town but they're missing out on a lot of fun options. Live! opened earlier this year with 4 clubs and a massive sports bar.

We first wanted to check-out the brand new Still Lounge which opened Thursday night. As you can see from the sign, it's a concept from Dr. Dre (USA) and Snoop Dog (USA). It replaced the short-lived Houndsmen Lounge.

We found DJ Isaac (USA) in the booth.

The music a mix of Top 40 and EDM.

What The Houndsmen didn't have was anyone dancing. Still Lounge got dancing.

Otherwise there were few renovations we noticed with all of the dark wood still here.

One wall has all these record album covers.

There was a $10 cover charge last night but we suspect this will go away once the newness wears off.

Our destination last night was Palm Tree Club, Live! at the Pointe's largest dance club. The club is owned by DJ Kygo (N) and joins locations in Miami and Las Vegas.

We walked into this. PTC is normally packed but last night, hardly anyone here yet it was approaching midnight.

The opener DJ Kevin Eman (USA) was still on when we first arrived.

In this venue, EDM of course.

And then about 12:15AM, there he was walking-in, the headliner.....

DJ Press Play (X)

We normally post ISO 3166 country codes for DJ's but we had to use "X" for DJ Press Play because no one knows who he is or where he is from. He could be from another planet for all we know!

The rather spartan crowd kind of kept their distance from the DJ booth, at least initially.

He opened with Darude (FIN) "Sandstorm" and a fascinating Calvin Harris (GB) "Sweet Nothing"/Zombie Nation (D) "Kernkraft 400" mashup.

Crowd finally got lively and it was a good EDM set.

Interesting to say the least.

Only 1AM so there was time for one more club! To downtown Orlando we went, home of The Vanguard.

We walked into this.

The headliner was already on. DJ Gareth Emery (GB).

As we've complained about numerous times, it's difficult to see the DJ here. They keep it so dark and foggy.

The DJ here is typically nothing more than a silhouette.

We could see Gareth far better when he played at Roxy in this 2012 show.

But it was packed! And his Trance set, so good!

The Vanguard has a shiny disco ball so you know they're legit.

Spotted on the dance floor: DJ Robb Blak (USA) and DJ Brian Benning (USA).

Robb had opened for Gareth Emery in the aforementioned Roxy show.

Spotted on the aft passageway: Ashley and Babita

We don't get enough Trance in Orlando but recent shows from Above & Beyond (GB), Paul Oakenfold (GB) and now Gareth Emery (GB) give us hope. A good time was had by all.