Club Reports: Eye Spy, Independent Bar, The Lodge, Finnhenry's, Vanity, Sound Bar

The Benny Benassi concert Saturday night at UCF ended before 11pm which was way too early to call it a night.  So it was a great opportunity to check out other venues in Orlando featuring Mannequins-style EDM and 8TRAX-style Retro. And thus began the journey at Eye Spy! 

Resident DJ Parry was on the decks at Eye Spy playing Top 40/Dance during my visit.

The open-air dance floor was packed!

DJ P said he'd be playing much more EDM later!

Spotted near the booth wearing one of her own creations: Renee (Love+Leather)

Next stop Independent Bar.

With DJ Dem Rok (Thee Grotto) in the booth spinning 80's New Wave!

Dance floor Saturday night full but not Saturday night packed.

Spotted in VIP: Fine-looking trio Deidre, Sarah & Olivia.



Keep it moving, keep it moving was my mantra. Next stop The Lodge.

Couldn't get a picture of the DJ because he said no, backed away and hid his face! LOL, seriously dude? You are not that special. Get over yourself.

Dancing to 80's Retro!

Next stop Finnhenry's, a first time visit for me here.

DJ Rich Mahogany (The Basement) was playing Top 40 & Oldies.

No dancing here but they did have a unicorn!

Like so many other places downtown, it's more for watching sports and socializing.

First visit to brand new club Vanity, owned by the V-Group and located upstairs of Vixen, Vintage & The Fifth.  (The Fifth uses the Roman numeral V in their logo.)

The very cool staircase!

Great finding DJ Johnny Quest (180 Grey Goose Lounge) & DJ Freefall (Rok Room, Vintage Lounge) in booth!  They were alternating between Hip Hop and EDM sets throughout the night.

The entire club including the spacious dance floor was absolutely jammed!

And an outside balcony offers views of Orange Avenue traffic.

Last stop was Sound Bar.  This place is a hidden gem and worth the search!

They had DJ Bill Patrick (GB) in the booth playing pure and simple House music!

All non-vocal, all non-commercial.  The place was jammed!  If you're searching for the real thing, this may be the only club in Orlando playing it!

And as you would expect, a good time was had by all!

Concert Report: DJ Benny Benassi (CFE Arena @ UCF)

Great to be back out to the University of Central Florida where UCF Arena has finally found a sponsor and been renamed CFE Arena!

UCF is 50-years old this year and last night's concert was just one part of many Homecoming activities taking place this week.  This was my first visit to the Arena since attending a graduation ceremony out here a few years ago and a Lady Gaga concert shortly before that!

Opening act last night was Pop duo Timeflies (USA) which is made up of Producer Rob Resnick in the booth and vocalist Cal Shapiro.

Huge crowd in the arena for the show!

Best part was a freestyle song about life at UCF, sung to a Rap beat.  The biggest roars from the mostly student crowd had to do with beating the crap out of arch-enemy USF.

Their song mix included their hits "Glad You Came" and ended with current hit "I Choose You" which is on their "Warning Signs" album released just last month.

Local DJ Crespo filled a 45-minute gap between sets with an all EDM mix!

And then the chanting of "Benny! Benny! Benny!"

Who then came onto the stage to a huge roar of the crowd; DJ Benny Benassi (I).

First performance in Orlando since Electric Daisy Carnival in 2011.

The guy is always in a great mood!

The maximum number of floor access wristbands had already been given out by the time I arrived so it took a flurry of texts to finally get me down here, lol!

People were dancing in the seats but it was a lot easier on the floor!

And it was really jammed towards the front!

He played massive hit "Cinema" (Skrillex Remix) about midway through his set and pretty much turned off the music and let the crowd sing it on their own....which they did. They went crazy during the Dubstep section of the song!

Confetti cannons!

Lasers!

And he ended the night with his song that once was used in Wendy's commercials, "Satisfaction"!

He came down to the edge of the stage to thank everyone for coming, then went back up to the booth to wave goodbye one more time!



And on this Saturday night at UCF, a good time was had by all!



EDC Teaser

We're just 5 days away for the beginning of Electric Daisy Carnival - Orlando!!  And if you're looking for Markus Schulz (D / USA) and Ferry Corsten (NL) in the lineup this year, you'll find them DJ'ing together this Friday night under the name New World Punx!  Each have successful careers in their own right – so why New World Punx? It’s very simple, both have a mutual love for a period of time when some of Trance music’s finest tracks were conceived. It all started with a conversation they had about music and quickly turned into something bigger; both realized that they represent the opposite ends of the techno spectrum (Ferry on the melodic side and Markus on the harder side) but somewhere in the middle there’s an overlap that brings their sounds together. Based on this common thread and a desire for nostalgia the two started working together.  Full DJ lineup here. Tickets here!

Club Reports: Ultimate Lounge, 180 Grey Goose Lounge

Friday night at Amway Center to catch the home opener for the Orlando Magic.  The Magic blew out the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 110-90!

One of the venues within the arena is the Ultimate Lounge, a place generally not open to the public without some of the more expensive seats.

And it's a great place to watch the home team head to the court or return for half time!

The Magic's #1 draft pick, Victor Olapido passing through!

Spotted: Former Magic star Tracy McGrady posing for the Blog!

Spotted: Leading Magic fan Sarah (The Rollins Girls).

Moving upstairs to 180 Grey Goose Lounge, which is open to the public with no cover charge.  During games or concerts it is open solely to those attending the event but once that event ends, anyone can come up!

DJ Johnny Quest was in the booth spinning House/Dance during my visit!

The place was wall-to-wall jammed!

People were dancing wherever they stood!

Yeah, it's not quite Red Sky Bar in Bangkok but it works for Orlando!

And on this Magic victory night, a good time was had by all!

Club Reports: Red Coconut Club, The Groove

Haven't been out to Universal CityWalk since the DJ Baby Anne concert this past Labor Day weekend.  So way overdue and checking things out for Halloween night beginning at the Red Coconut Club.

DJ Leony (Sirius/XM Radio, RadioDanz, Latin Quarter, Mojito's, The Fifth) was in the booth playing mostly Latin beats with some House mixed in.

With Latin Quarter now closed, Leony has moved over to RCC on Thursday & Saturday nights!

Decent crowd early-on that would build towards 1AM.

He says he plays a lot more EDM on Saturday nights!

But Thursday night is Ladies Night so there's usually a big crowd!

With plenty of people dancing!

Heading over to The Groove.

With DJ Scott King (Crooklyn Clan, Motion, Rock'n'Roll Beach Club) in the booth spinning Top 40/Dance/Oldies etc.

Kind of empty in the place but as midnight approached all of a sudden it began to fill!

And it did my heart proud to see people go onto the dance floor to dance when some EDM songs got played!

CityWalk continues to invest in TG with yet more monitors and lighting equipment.

And on this Halloween night, a good time was being had by all!  And management at The Groove promises all kinds of surprises there in the coming year so stay tuned for details!