Club Reports: Independent Bar, The Patio, Elixir Bar, Bikkuri Lounge

You know by now that if it's at all possible on a Saturday night, I'm going to begin my night at Independent Bar!

Just as it should be on a Saturday night, DJ Indie John (USA) leading the festivities!

The dance floor went from this.....

to this within a matter of moments!

Spotted in the booth: Indie John joined by DJ Parry (USA), DJ Kimball Collins (USA) and DJ Icey (USA).

Spotted in VIP: Doctor John and Blog-favorite CJ.

And OMG, spotted on the dance floor, Cera (D).

The Saturday night format at I-Bar is 80's New Wave and it's thee place to be downtown!

The Blog is required to verify at least quarterly The Patio's claim that "there's always a party" here. They never know when we're going to show up and this time we purposely chose an earlier rainy night when there were more homeless wandering around downtown than clubbers.

DJ Dan-e Crane (USA) in the booth at this early hour.

And the dance floor was like.....full.

He had everyone bouncing!

Playing Daft Punk (F) hit "One More Time" to my satisfaction!

Drats, foiled again! There really is always a party at The Patio!

OK, crossing over Washington Street to Elixir Bar.

In time to see DJ Matt Enos (USA) close-out a Techno set.

Dance floor not full but not empty either.

And then at 12:15AM, the headliner took over. The veteran DJ Carl Craig (USA).

Everyone came out of the woodwork and the dance floor got crowded!

Going all Hard Detroit Techno on us early on!

First met Carl Craig when he and DJ Al Ester (USA) performed in 5F° outdoors at Igloofest in Montreal and they offered me shots from their liquor stash!

Based in Detroit, Carl Craig is considered one of the fathers of Detroit Techno music.

Beautiful night on the Elixir patio!

If you're driving down East Colonial Drive you need to look for this sign. Because when you see "sticky rice" in the front of this building, you'll find Bikkuri Lounge in the back of this building!

Damn! I arrived into this!

DJ Craig Connelly (GB) delivering the Trance!

That look you see when great uplifting Trance is being played!

The special installment of "Lost In Trancelation" was packed!

Spotted on the dance floor: Jeff, Amanda, Christina, Joe & Nerissa.

Spotted near the front: DJ Robb Blak (USA) with Harley

Spotted by the door: DJ Rysto (USA) and DJ Suzy Solar (USA), both whom had played earlier, with Trance Vocalist Sally Oh (USA).

Spotted on the dance floor: Suzy Solar with DJ Brian Benning (USA).

Spotted on the balcony: Christina and Sage

You could feel the euphoria in the room!

Two nights in a row for big-name Trance in Orlando. Such a great set!

Don't miss the next edition of "Lost In Trancelation" as DJ Sean Tyas (CH) returns to the booth right here at Bikkuri on Friday, June 7th.

A good time was had by all.

Concert Report: DJ Markus Schulz (Celine)

In the year and a half that Celine has been open, it has become downtown Orlando's de facto home to big name electronic music DJ concerts!

Began the night up on the Celine rooftop where DJ D-Day (USA) was playing House.

Crowded but not packed. Many typically begin their evenings up here while an opening DJ plays downstairs in the main room.

But that was not necessary last night when the opening DJ was none other than Luccio (USA).

A Trance master, we had seen Luccio at Club Space in Miami in 2016 (link) and at Gilt Nightclub in Orlando last year (link) as well as right here at Celine last November (link).

The Celine dance floor was jammed for his set!

But then unexpectedly early at midnight, there he was! DJ Markus Schulz (D/USA).

And as he typically operates, imploring the "Orlando Trance Family" to get loud!

And they did!

Markus is brilliant about taking non-Trance hits and making them trancy. Here, a mashed-up "Apologize", "Zombie Nation" & "Radio Gaga" mix!

And going Big Room Trance on us with a Trance version of Pink's "What About Us".

Spotted in VIP: Renee joined by Promo Only power players DJ Dave Cannalte (USA), DJ Pete Werner (USA) and DJ Scotty B (USA).

Spotted on the mezzanine: Athena, Jasmine, Alizabeth & Adriana

Spotted by the stage: Newly-engaged Anthony & Adriana.

The lasers were flying all night!

Markus is originally from Germany but is now based in Miami.

Nice view of the crowd.

A light whip with a flash.

A light whip without a flash!

Athena still got it!

Needing some more Trance?  DJ Chris Connelly (GB) joins Suzy Solar (USA) tonight at Bikkrui Lounge! Great concert last night and a good time was had by all.

Breaking News: Bongo's Closing!

WDW News Today is reporting that Bongo's Cuban Cafe is closing this August. Back in December, 2016 the Blog ran an article titled "White Elephants?" where we described Disney Springs' oldest restaurants as white elephants and wondered how much longer they could last. Of course Wolfgang Puck closed and relocated to a new concept in a new building and DisneyQuest closed too and was razed. So now Bongo's is shutting down, possibly reopening later at the new Margaritaville Resort in Kissimmee. No word on what will happen to the Bongo's space.

Concert Report: Rüfüs Du Sol (Hard Rock Live)

I don't get out much on Wednesday nights but this event had been long on my list to check out so here I was at Hard Rock Live at Universal CityWalk.

Like the main act that would be playing later, the opening act was also an electronic music trio. Qvist (D)

In my view there are DJ fans and there are band fans and never shall the two meet, lol. But these "bands" that play electronic music really blur the lines so I've tried to remain open to them. Seeing electronic band Odezsa (USA) last year really blew me away!

Qvist had a one hour time slot last night but their equipment kept cutting out. Apparently they figured out that it was them and not Hard Rock so they quit about 10 minutes early.

That left a 40 minute intermission as the set was prepared for the main act.

And then promptly at 9:30PM, there they were!  Rüfüs Du Sol (AUS)

I don't know their music so people had to tell me the names of songs being played. "Trust You Better" early in the program.

The gathered crowd was singing along to all their tracks.  "You Were Right" sounded somewhat familiar to me.

The only song I definitely recognized was the brilliant "Innerbloom". "If you want me, if you need me, I'm yours!"

About 2,500 fans in the house!

Spotted in VIP: Kelli and Christa

Well, I didn't like them as much as I did Odesza last May but it wasn't bad and held my interest until the end.

A good time was had by all.

On the way back to the parking garage I dropped by The Groove for a few minutes.

Wednesday night resident DJ Rincon (USA) in the booth playing Classic Dance hit "Rhythm of the Night" as I came through!

Just a handful on the dance floor at this early hour on a Wednesday night. A reminder DJ Rincon leads the Thursday night return of "Rewind" tonight at House of Blues in Disney Springs ft. music of the 80's, 90's & 00's!