PI Update: Demolition Continues

It was a beautiful fall afternoon in the mid-70's at Orlando today so what a better place to spend some time than Pleasure Island and Downtown Disney. Someone I know will be receiving some little mismatched socks for Christmas this year!

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Demolition continues on the island. At Mannequins the stairs to the 2nd floor have been completely removed and only the landing remains. At the former PI Live booth the exterior has also been completely removed leaving just the framework. There has been no additional demolition to the towers that hold the Harley Davidson signs. We await how that gets resolved.

Over on another internet discussion board someone asked to see the inspirational signs placed on the demolition walls. I posted one of them last week and here is the other. There is also new directional signage at the Hub.

Over on the West Side, the Princess Di exhibit thankfully and mercifully closes on schedule tomorrow, November 30th. Located in the former home of Virgin Megastore, sources say the run will not be extended through the holidays as I previously speculated that it might. Adult tickets have been reduced to $10 so don't miss out! Doing much better is the $16 tethered balloon ride. Today was a great day for it and you can see the line of people waiting their turn.

Club Report: Backstage

When you reach your 60's, this is probably where you'll be hanging out. So prepare yourself. I hadn't been to Backstage in years and certainly not since it reopened following renovations. The venue is quite contemporary if not futuristic looking but it still boils down to a band on the stage and a glass-enclosed DJ booth in the corner. Last night cover band Generation E had that stage and while the pretty 36-yr old Ensley Allan can sing a wide range of music genres, the whole vibe was just too much like a bad night at Rock'n'Roll Beach Club. Did spot an 8TRAX girl in there. Located in the Rosen Plaza Hotel, I guess the place might fill up when a convention is in town. But not last night. Ugg.

The Mouse - He's Everywhere, He's Everywhere!

On climb-out from MCO a couple weeks ago, noticed this mysterious tree formation near Winter Garden/Windermere. Talk about hidden Mickeys!!

Service Industry & Ladies Nights

The Orlando Sentinel's Kelly Fitzpatrick has a good article in today's paper about Service Industry Nights around Orlando. It mostly focuses on House of Blues which she describes as "blows most clubs out of the water." She then lists some of the better SIN's. Elsewhere is an excellent listing of Orlando-area Ladies Nights. All in Friday editions of the Sentinel.

Club Report: Tabu (Aahz Reunion)

Oh my God! I have just returned from the MOST INCREDIBLE house music concert I have ever seen. Yes, I've seen Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten and even Sandra Collins multiple times. But this was beyond all of that. DJ's Dave Cannalte and Kimball Collins (both USA) returned to Orlando this evening to recreate their 90's "Wizards of AAHZ" routine at Tabu. Cannalte was most recently the Thursday night DJ at Mannequins.

The event officially began at 9pm yet the club was already crowded when I arrived fashionably late at 10:30pm. And it only got more crowded! Canalte's set was more subdued with easy to get along with Dance and House music. He played approximately the first 3 hours. His last song at the switch over ironically was Everybody's Free (to Feel Good). He told me he appreciated me recognizing it for what it was, the final song ever at Mannequins.

With that he turned it over to Kimball Collins. Although I must admit not recognizing 95% of what he played, it was an incredible mix of music that got the increasingly crowded dance floor into a frenzy. DJ Baby Anne (USA) came off the stage and was dancing near me. The crowd was overwhelmingly 35+, many probably original AAHZ night fans. I ran into at least a dozen Mannequins people in the crowd too including a former Mannequins manager. The night far exceeded my expectations. All I can say to those of you who missed this: WOW!

Return To Aahz Tonight!!

Former Mannequins DJ Dave Cannalte teams up with his former partner DJ Kimball Collins tonight at Tabu Night Club in downtown Orlando. If you were a fan of Mannequins, if you like techno, if you live in the Orlando area and if you don't have to work tomorrow due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, you should come out to support this event!! I'll give you the full report tomorrow for those unable to attend. Admission is just $12.

PI Update: Demolition Big Duh Moment

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One of our Save Pleasure Island roving reporters was out on the Island today to get some daytime shots of the demolition taking place since its difficult to see with the night shots. The demolition was only supposed to take a few days to complete but apparently it is now on hold because they had a Big Duh moment. Allegedly demolition planners forgot to account for those Harley Davidson signs that are connected to the very light bridge towers that they're tearing down! Island sources are saying that management now has to figure out how the Harley Davidson store can keep the signage its entitled to before they can proceed any further! OMG, if this is true, how could something so basic have been overlooked? (No further work has been completed outside Mannequins either.)

SIN at HOB

Tonight is Service Industry Night at House of Blues and the guest DJ will be Richie Rich. While he normally spins hip hop and other urban beats at his Saturday night residency at Tabu, he promised Save PI readers House music when he plays at HOB. Admission is free for anyone in any service industry; simply bring your business card or pay stub to prove you work for a living! HOB is in Downtown Disney West Side.

Monday update: I've heard that the DJ David Guetta concert scheduled for next Tuesday, December 1st at Roxy has been cancelled. No details yet.

Club Reports: CityWalk

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I haven't reported lately about Thursday nights at CityWalk. Thursday night is 80's Night at The Groove and on the recent Thursdays that I've been there the crowds have been rather light to moderate. I don't think interest is slipping, it's just off-season right now so the tourists are not there to mix in with the locals. To attack that they tried something different last night....the live band Switch performed on the stage playing a large assortment of 80's spread across three 30-minute sets. In between sets, former 8TRAX DJ Doc spun requests and his own selections. There was a decent crowd on hand; the band no doubt drew some of its own followers. It's way too early to judge whether having a live band one Thursday each month is going to be worth the expense. It was interesting though; it seemed different people danced to the band than danced when the DJ was playing. Will be interesting to see the turnout next Thursday...Thanksgiving.

Thursday night is Ladies Night at Latin Quarter featuring renowned DJ Leony of Sirius/XM Radio. Thursday's are usually crowded here but it never quite got that way last night. Me thinks the Latin Night at nearby Blue Martini has drawn away some of LQ's crowd. It wasn't empty, just not packed. The dance floor did get packed when Leony put on his mini-House music sets.

The most densely populated club (per square foot) last night was Red Coconut. DJ G-Clef of Celebrate Tonight fame had the floor crowded after the Herb Williams Band ended for the night.

Club Reports: Junction City, Kansas

I am really NOT going to give you a club report from Junction City, Kansas, lol!! My travels happened to take me there yesterday and I just happened to run into the hottest club in town. (Click on photo to enlarge.) So if you're ever there, now you know!

Live band Switch is playing tonight for 80's Night at The Groove. I'll have a report tomorrow on how things worked out with a live band on the stage.

Renewed rumors from PI that RRBC is to come down next.

PI Update: Demolition Begins

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It didn't take long for demolition to begin after the fences were installed yesterday. I was out on the island this evening and took these shots. Above we see the demolition of the former PI Live DJ booth atop Sosa Cigars. Island sources told me the entire light bridge and towers are coming down. Sources also say that Sosa is not going to have to close or move elsewhere during construction. Also, contrary to rumors, they are not getting an upstairs smokers patio but instead will have a ground-level patio with tables and chairs wrapping around their building.

Meanwhile work also began today on the demolition of the stairs/fire escape outside Mannequins. They've started with the canopy on the forward stairs that led to the 2nd Floor. Presumably, once done they will move to the rear stairs that led to the 3rd Floor.

PI Update

REPORTING & PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAVE PI REPORTER THOMMY
As previously reported here on the Blog, Disney obtained a county permit to demolish the stairs outside Mannequins Dance Palace. Earlier today a barrier wall was placed around the club so that the demolition can begin. The club is not coming down, just the outside stairs.

Construction (or more precisely deconstruction) has begun on the former PI Live booth. Window coverings have been removed and passersby can see the now- gutted booth. As you know, PI Live moved over to the booth atop Laffers Cantina at the time Celebrate Tonight began. Rumors are that the old location will be used as a smoking & drinking patio for the Sosa Cigar bar. There are new signs by RRBC pointing the way to West Side. The bottom photo is taken by the stairs down to the PI Live Bar and you can see Motion in the background but unfortunately no detail of the demolition itself due to the darkness. I am in snowy Kansas this evening but will get more photos upon my return!

On September 21st this Blog posted a picture of the Funmeister which is located behind Sosa's and in front of Motion. I did not mention that on the opposite side of the Funmeister his eyebrow had been broken. That is now fixed. The broken glass has been replaced or reset. Why would they do that instead of just taking the entire Funmeister down?

Another Weekend, Another Cruise

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I haven't reported on any clubs on cruise ships since January because I haven't been out on any. But this past weekend I got to experience Norwegian Jewel out of Miami. The ship has 2 night clubs, Spinnaker which played Latin and Fyzz which was used for karaoke. With the beautiful evening weather on this cruise parties were held by the main pool both nights featuring DJ Mitch (WL) . The famous White Hot Party was held on the pool deck, not in the pool itself. The place stayed packed from 10pm to 2am and featured mostly Motion/Groove-style music (Top 40) and a lot of Disco. As I was on the edge of the pool, it was interesting trying to do the Cupid Shuffle and not fall in! And as for that 4th picture above, I'm not even going to try to explain that! Best thing about this ship? The buffet was open until 2am!! As for partying, ok but I've had better.

PI Update

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The Harley Davidson t-shirt store on Pleasure Island is definitely not moving to the West Side because as you can see, the rumored space is now occupied by Little Missmatched. Over in Motion, the DJ booth is gone again and the venue was rearranged for some other event. Motion continues to be used for various group meetings.

Evening look at the many booths in Downtown Disney (including Pleasure Island) for this weekend's Festival of the Masters. That's all for now....always stay tuned for the latest PI news!