Club Report: Barbarella 3.0

Depending on how you count, Orlando’s storied nightclub Barbarella is now in either its 3rd or 4th iteration. And as we begin a new year, let’s quickly look back them.

Their original location was downtown along Orange Avenue at Washington Street. We think they opened as Beach Club before becoming Barbarella and then spent most years as Independent Bar. When Pleasure Island closed and we came downtown in search of nightlife (and we began this Blog), someone introduced me to I-Bar and we’ve been coming ever since. A couple years before moving they reintroduced the Barbarella name.

And this is when we first met the owner and DJ Indie John (USA) working out of the 2nd Floor perch.

So many memories in this room!

With the foresight that downtown Orlando was heading towards doom, Barbarella relocated in April, 2022 to a warehouse district off John Young Parkway.

Now only open on Saturday nights, you’d always find Indie John in the perch.

They cordoned-off a section of a pickle ball facility and created a dance club once per week. People always clamored for the days of “underground warehouse parties” and boy, this was definitely it.

But the City supposedly told ownership that one can’t operate a nightclub in an area not zoned for it so they were forced to move again. And in September, 2024 they reopened inside The Axe Trap on Lee Road just east of I-4. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2025.