Welcome to Downtown Orlando? We don’t think so. First they required uniformed police officers to be hired outside the clubs at club expense even though none of the downtown crime ever took place IN a club. Then they required clubs wanting to remain open after midnight to pay for an extra permit. Then the City closed all their downtown lots and garages at 11PM. And most recently, they implemented a 300ft. rule meaning no new venues could open within 300ft of an existing venue. One can only surmise that the City of Orlando wants to put nightlife out of business. But there is an alternative!Just outside Orlando is a place called International Drive. They want your business down here and things are happening down here! Traditionally just a tourist area, locals are discovering I-Drive.Let’s begin at Icon Park.Yeah, the Starflyer and other rides are here and they attract visitors until way after midnight.And the Orlando Eye is here along with sister properties SeaLife Aquarium and Madame Tassaud’s Wax Museum. (Editor’s Note: Purchasing tickets on-line in advance is much-cheaper than walking-up.)But we’re focused on the music scene and there are several options. Tin Roof is a live music venue featuring live bands.There are two rooms of music with two typically Rock bands. Every time we’ve visited they’ve been packed!Then there is Country singer Blake Shelton’s (USA) Ole Red.People actually Dance to Country music? Who knew?On weekend evenings you’ll find DJ’s playing out on the Icon Park lawn area.We recently spotted DJ Michael Wycoff (USA) in the booth playing Top 40. There are dozens of shops and restaurants at Icon Park so check out their website here. We’ve read in the Orlando Sentinel that Blue Man Group is building a new theater at Icon Park too. They were previously at Universal CityWalk. There’s a huge parking garage adjacent where parking is FREE.Further south along International Drive is The Pointe. It opened in 1988 as Pointe Orlando and most people still call it that. When it opened it was primarily a retail complex anchored by a huge FAO Schwartz toy store. Most of the retail went bust during the Great Recession and they’ve had to reinvent themselves.The Pointe is a tale of two cities, upstairs and downstairs. Downstairs is mostly restaurants and they are booming! But since we’re here for the nightlife. Cuba Libre is a Latin restaurant while later at night, DJ’s spin primarily Latin music.Hampton Social is primarily a restaurant too but it has quite the bar scene.We found DJ Alex Chang (USA) here previously and others as well playing light House and EDM.Blue Martini is also a restaurant and becomes a club by night. In the evening they often have a live band.While a DJ takes over at 11PM such as this night we found DJ Ray Love (USA) here playing Top 40. Dance floor gets jammed and guys, it’s primarily a female crowd!Upstairs is another world, where things have been much-bleaker in recent years. Greek-themed restaurant Opa remains and a DJ plays Greek during dining hours.And Orlando Improv is still here but is now called Funny Bone Comedy Club.But Adobe Gila’s……GONE.Hooters…..GONE!B.B. King’s Blues Club…..GONE!Lafayette’s Music Room…..GONE!That’s the bad news. Now the GREAT news. In the former Lafayette’s spot, PBR Cowboy Bar is coming soon and appears it will be the first new venue to open as the upstairs is rebadged as “Live! at the Pointe.”In the former B.B. King’s spot, Sports & Social is coming.We tried to reach out to management for The Pointe to find out the locations of other noteworthy venues coming soon but were unable to. One will be Shark Bar, home to Retro dance music. Another will be Houndsmen English Lounge (which will be downstairs) and looks to have a late-night music element to it.And one will be Palm Tree Club, a venture that includes co-owner, international DJ Kygo (N) which we believe may be going into this spot that once housed club Matrix (but we actually don’t know where they’re going within The Pointe complex.) There will be a significant nightlife element beyond the upscale restaurant. There is a parking garage at The Pointe but parking costs $5 for up to two hours and $10 up to four hours. Many locations will validate though. The Pointe website is here. So much going on!Nearby but not in The Pointe is Ice Bar Orlando. There’s always nightlife at Ice Bar in their Heat Lounge. Besides their frozen ice room which does have a cover charge, the lounge itself is free.Last year we found DJ Rincon (USA) playing Top 40 at Ice Bar.Club 39 is located inside the Rosen Plaza Hotel.It’s currently being used for private event space only but could reopen nightly if the demand is there. We saw DJ Magic Mike (USA) playing at Club 39 a few years ago.Lastly, there’s Mango’s Tropical Cafe for Latin hits plus upstairs, the brand new Mango’s Ultra Lounge. The latter just opened last month and we just saw DJ Borgeous (USA) play here two weeks ago and DJ Fatima Hajji (E) last weekend. Look for more events coming soon. Even further south beyond Central Florida Parkway, Senso Beachclub is under construction. We believe this will be a dayclub and perhaps nightclub too featuring DJ music. So as you can see, there are so many nightlife options here or coming soon along International Drive. While the City of Orlando gives you the finger, International Drive gets better and better.
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