Holiday weekend and all the clubs will be open but just several big name events:
FRI 01JUL IRON COW DJ Robby Clark (USA)
FRI 01JUL VANGUARD DJ James Hype (GB)
SUN 03JUL MYTH (Jacksonville) DJ Baby Anne (USA)
SUN 03JUL Memento Mori @ Barbarella 2.0 DJ Lavidicus (USA)
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| We think everyone knows that this weekend we'll be celebrating America's Independence Day on Monday, July 4th with many fireworks shows taking place on Sunday night. But it's likely few of you know that this Friday, July 1st, is Canada Day. You can celebrate that too by dropping by The Daily Poutine in Disney Springs Town Center and ordering the Canadian specialty, poutine. |
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| If you're not familiar with poutine, it's simply an order of pommes frites doused in hot brown gravy with cheese curds added on top. (My order above was without the curds,) It's a delicious treat and one of the more inexpensive items to eat at Disney Springs. Check it out! |
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| Blog sources at Universal Studios CityWalk in Orlando have confirmed that beginning this past Friday night, club operating hours were cut and all remaining clubs will be closing at Midnight. One of our readers had contacted Save Pleasure Island Blog / Orlando Entertainment News via email to report the lights coming on at 12 this past Friday and patrons being told to go home. None of our CW sources could provide a reason behind the decision or whether the cut is just for this summer. However, the email source told us that lower level management on the scene was telling patrons that "upper management is wanting them to be more like restaurants rather than nightclubs" and thus the earlier closure time. Indeed, most of the remaining venues are restaurants too but have always had a late-night club component to them. |
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| We don't doubt that the shuttering of CityWalk's main dance club The Groove impacted overall club attendance in the complex. Remaining clubs include Rising Star, Bob Marley's, Margaritaville & Pat O'Briens while we're not sure of the current status of Red Coconut Club.We also don't know if concerts at Hard Rock Live are impacted. |
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| DJ Navitas (USA) was just one of seven female DJ's playing last night at Resurrection - Ladies of Bass to help support Genesis House for Homeless Women and their Children in Melbourne. Our sister website Orlando Entertainment News was there to cover it and the pictures are here. |
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| Her flight was late but DJ Fatima Hajji (E) finally made it and delivered the Techno. All the pictures are on our sister website, Orlando Entertainment News, here. |
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| Considered among the originators of electronic music, Kraftwerk (D) performed last night at the Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. Our sister blog Orlando Entertainment News was there for the pictures. LINK |
Another big weekend of events!
WED 22JUN DR PHILLIPS CENTER Kraftwerk (D) Tonight!
FRI 24JUN SKYLOUNGE @ AMWAY DJ Fatima Hajji (E)
FRI 24JUN VANGUARD DJ Flux Pavilion (GB)
SAT 25JUN IRON POST (Melbourne) Ressurection: Ladies of Bass
SUN 26JUN ELIXIR BAR DJ Pawsa (GB)
Remembering our Blog article from Saturday, September 27, 2008 recapping the prior night on beautiful Pleasure Island!
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| One of my accomplishments on this trip to Chicago was to make the drive about 2-hours south to Champaign-Urbana to visit my alma mater, the University of Illinois. |
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| Perhaps the U of I does not offer a summer semester because it was pretty abandoned around campus and all the classroom buildings were locked tight. This is the grassy area known as the Quad. Most of the campus is located in Urbana, Illinois while a smaller part (including Memorial Stadium) is located in Champaign, Illinois. |
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| The Undergrad Library was built underground because..... |
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| .....it's adjacent the Morrow Plots and they couldn't have a building shadow cast upon it. |
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| During the Fall semester the corn rows would be tall but during this June visit, growth had just begun. |
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| David Kinley Hall was already elderly when I attended the University and it's even older now. As one of two main building dedicated to Business & Commerce, much time was spent here back in the day. |
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| Located on the Champaign side of the school, "Campustown" has grown quite a bit since my days here. |
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| Publishing a filler article here today. Continuing our visit to downtown Chicago and strolling along Michigan Avenue, passed the T-Mobile store. |
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| And in the lobby, our first set of DJ's encountered on the trip! |
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| We were visiting Chicago yesterday and one stop was this rooftop bar overlooking Millennium Park and the famous "bean" sculpture. The pics are posted to sister website Orlando Entertainment News here. |
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| Do you all remember Diana, Jen, Erika and Taryn from 8TRAX? We saw a few of them at a couple Pleasure Island reunions post-closure but its been at least a decade since we've seen any of them. Does anyone know where they are? |
Summer begins with a weekend load of DJ entertainment!
WED 15JUN Orlando Amphitheater DJ Flume (AUS) TONIGHT
THU 16JUN Gilt Concert Venue DJ Konstantina Gianni (USA)
FRI 17JUN Celine DJ Baauer (USA)
SAT 18JUN Vanguard DJ Ookay (USA)
SAT 18JUN Celine DJ Ferreck Dawn (NL)
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| In the years after Pleasure Island closed, club Parliament House used to conduct an event during Gay Days titled PI @ PH. With PH now closed and demolished, it's been a few years without those popular events that often included many former PI cast members. |
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| But as we previously reported, Parliament House is coming back and it will be located right at the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street in the heart of downtown. By this time next year, it will be operational. |
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| It was 9 months after the Pleasure Island clubs had closed and supposedly Disney management had allowed the DTD management to reopen a couple of the clubs for private event rentals. Such was the case during Gay Days 2009 when Motion reopened for one night only for a dance club event. Of course Motion was kept blocked-off and you had to know there was an event there to get past the planters and the security guard. If you just wanted to wander over to see what was happening, they turned you away. |
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| The opener was Orlando's own DJ Joanie (USA). The headliner DJ Manny Lehman (USA) would come on much later. |
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| The bartenders ware lined up ready for action but our visit was early so not a lot of patrons just yet. |
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| 2009 drink prices were Disney-expensive but seem quaint by 2022 standards. As this was not a Disney event but Disney supplied the liquor, you had to purchase drink tickets from the Disney employee stationed nearby and then give the tickets to the bartenders. |
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| Our visit was early so just a few patrons upstairs. But it was just such a great feeling being inside a Pleasure Island club after that long gap! |
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| Save Pleasure Island Blog roving reporter Thommy attended later in the evening and reported that Manny Lehman played a lot of non-vocal House and only three songs with vocals (Poker Face, Sorry & Womanizer). At the time, with the reemergence of electronic dance music still in its infancy, the real House music probably shocked the crowd as it was way ahead of what Orlando was otherwise experiencing. We're not aware of any other dance events in Motion before it met the wrecking ball beginning in December, 2010. |
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| There he was, the amazing DJ Maceo Plex (USA/E) last night at The Vanguard. All the Saturday night pics are on our sister blog Orlando Entertainment News here. |
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| DJ U4EUH (USA) was at one of numerous stops visited last night by our sister website Orlando Entertainment News. You can view the Friday night pics here. |
