Pleasure Island Reunion

Last September former Pleasure Island cast members got together for a reunion to commemorate their old home. Last night former Pleasure Island club patrons got together for a reunion to mourn our old home. Large crowd last night at Atlantic Dance Hall, the largest I've seen other than NYE. CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

I nearly always run into PI people at ADH but never so many gathered in one place at one time since the Final Night of the island itself. Lots and lots of Mannequins, 8TRAX and Motion people attending the reunion. Someone told me that even radio station XL106.7 had mentioned it.

DJ's Talie, Tony & Pat were on hand. Have to give credit where credit is due and DJ Pat did a really good job, playing song clusters from the different clubs. When he played Cotton-Eyed Joe I thought perhaps he was paying tribute to PI's Neon Armadillo but I was told that it was actually a popular song at Motion. Here are pics of just some of the people I recognized from the Island; there were many others. Hopefully I've posted everyone that I promised!

Pleasure Island Reunion Tonight

PLEASURE ISLAND tonight at ATLANTIC DANCE HALL!!

This is a completely unofficial event and I don't know who started it. It's success depends on you. Pleasure Island dance club patrons are invited to come out this evening after 10pm to meet up at Atlantic Dance Hall to see old friends, meet new ones and just recall the good old days on the Island. The DJ will be playing an all-request format so bring a list of your favorite songs from Mannequins, 8TRAX, Motion and BET Soundstage. If he's got them, he'll play them! Admission is free, parking is free, dancing is free and drinks are....sorry, you got to pay for them! If you've never been to ADH, attire is casual to dressy depending on your mood, just like PI. Hope to see you there!

PI Update: Aquarium Restaurant Coming?

The website Screamscape is reporting a new rumor about an Aquarium Restaurant possibly coming to Pleasure Island. In yesterday's issue it mentioned prior rumors about Aquarium scouting out the old Virgin Megastore location but apparently the new rumor is that they are looking at opening on Pleasure Island. You can cut and paste this to jump to their article:

http://www.screamscape.com/html/walt_disney_world_resort.htm#Downtown

While at that website scroll down a bit and you'll notice that Screamscape often links to the Save Pleasure Island Blog because of my rumors. But I've heard no rumors myself about Aquarium. It's certainly a concept which would fit in with things like Orange County Choppers BBQ, Winter Wonderland and Hot Dog Hall of Fame.

Club Reports: CityWalk Thursday Night

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At CityWalk I was excited to see that the sign for the new Fat Tuesday frozen drink bar has been installed. Really looking forward to those Slurpee/Slushee-type frozen alcoholic drinks! This should be open for spring break. But the rest of CityWalk was rather bleak last night as another cold Orlando night kept people at home. The band Blue Stone Circle played to a small crowd at Margaritaville but any dancers stayed seated.

The band Mystik NRG played reggae but only about 10 people watched in the cold outdoors of Bob Marley's. Even the popular Herb Williams Band over at Red Coconut Club had few onlookers. The Groove had a light crowd for 80's Night but more people than the other clubs with the exception of Latin Quarter which was very dead early but got crowded after 11:30pm. I think the biggest crowd in CityWalk though was actually at AMC Universal Cineplex for a special advance screening of The Wolfman! Tomorrow night Heart is the concert band for Mardi Gras in Universal Studios. And the after-party will be in CityWalk!

PI Update: Nothing New

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Hadn't been out to Pleasure Island since the big freeze in January so it was good to get back out there and see all the renovations taking place. But over at 8TRAX......nothing.

Mannequins Dance Palace.....nothing. Motion.....nothing.

Celebrate Tonight was going on but there weren't many participants.

My biggest island surprise was looking up into the Celebrate Tonight booth and seeing DJ Talie from Motion at the helm! She came down to visit and posed with John, formerly of Mannequins and now of Laffers Cantina. Even in that Celebrate Tonight costume she looked damn good. Both hope to make it to the PI Reunion over at Atlantic Dance this Saturday night. Meanwhile, over on the West Side yet another empty storefront as Planet Hollywood On Location closed Feb 1st.

Stop Light Party at Red Coconut Club

This Friday night Orlando radio station WXXL (XL106.7) is sponsoring a Stop Light party at Red Coconut Club in Universal CityWalk. When you go in you choose either a red, yellow or green wristband to signal your availability. Green means you're available and looking while red means you're already taken. I think you have to proceed with extreme caution with those wearing yellow wristbands. Sounds like a great icebreaker to meet people. Begins at 10pm. Thanks to Dawn E. for telling me about this event!

Vote for the Best Songs & DJ's of 2009

Awhile back I got to vote for nominees for the 25th Annual International Dance Music Awards. The nominees have been selected and now YOU TOO can vote for your favorite 2009 songs and DJ's. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony taking place at Winter Music Conference in South Beach during the final week of March.

If you're interested, follow this link:
http://www.wmcon.com/idmaballot/finalballot/index.php
There are many categories and you don't have to vote in all of them if you aren't familiar with it. Please note that you will have to give them your email address because once you submit your votes they're going to email you back and have you confirm that the votes came from you. This is your chance to help select the IDMA winners for 2009.

PI Reunion This Saturday Night at ADH

While I haven't given up hope for an actual Mannequins Reunion, someone has determined that there's going to be a Pleasure Island Reunion for former club patrons and that it's going to take place this coming Saturday evening at Atlantic Dance Hall. Everyone 21+ is welcome, no matter what dance club was your previous favorite. The DJ will be spinning 70's & 80's for 8TRAX fans, hip hop for BET Soundstage fans, Top 40 for Motion fans and even some techno for us Mannequins fans. It's an all-request format. Admission is free. Introduce yourself if you see me; I'll be the one with the camera taking all those pictures! ADH is located at Disney's Boardwalk Resort at the end of the boardwalk.

Other Downtown Moments

Ya just never know what you're going to run into downtown!

Club Reports: Bliss & Firestone Live (Paul Oakenfold)

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I knew Paul Oakenfold wasn't coming on until 12:30am so there was time to visit some other downtown clubs too. After a quick drink and say hello to friends at Independent Bar (not pictured), I spent some quality time in Bliss Ultra Lounge. They were having a special night featuring the "Phunk of Granite & Phunk" but while I was in there local DJ Chad Andrew (USA) was at the helm spinning House and Progressive House. There was a huge line outside to get in and it was crowded inside too. But the dance floor stayed pretty empty until he put on former Mannequins' song Silence by Delerium. At that point the floor filled and stayed that way!





Then it was on to an incredible night at Firestone Live featuring Top 10 DJ Paul Oakenfold (GB). Although the signs warn of no crowd surfing or mosh pits, it wasn't 30-minutes into his set that Oakie himself dove into the audience! The club was absolutely packed and the pics pretty much speak for themselves. Oakenfold was much more animated and interactive with the crowd than his last O-Town visit at ICON but he played a lot more vocal House last visit than this time. It was still an excellent show which at the end they announced that he would be returning in 4 months. So if you missed it this time, stay tuned for an announcement of a June visit.