You can call it The Vanguard. Some still call it Venue 578. But to us, it will always be Firestone!The club doors opened last night at 9PM and we arrived fashionably early around 9:30PM. We walked into this.The opening DJ was still playing when we came in.Chandler Altman is DJ CA (USA) and as one would expect, his set was almost completely Downtempo.What we didn’t expect was for the next DJ to come on so early. At 10:10PM, the next opener came on.DJ Pacho Berrocal (USA)He would begin Downtempo but then pick up the pace.The pace on the dance floor was picking up too.Spaces were filling-in pretty early for a Vanguard show.Always great to see Pacho!For those that remember when this was Firestone, you’ll recall that the stage was located along this north wall. Now the club exits are down here with a VIP area atop.This area in the northeast corner of Firestone was a separate room known as The Den and at big shows a different DJ often played in here. The space is no longer separate but the stairs are still here. In the history of this building, that was the office for the Firestone tire store and Texaco gas station.Those stairs used to take you up to The Loft, a glassed-in room with another DJ playing. No more. Now the main VIP bottle service area is up there overlooking the dance floor and stage below.Pacho Berrocal’s set ended as quickly as it began. At 11:05PM, another shift change!DJ Atnarko (USA)Atnarko is a resident DJ at Iron Cow.Many of his selections included Vocals. We would describe his set overall as on the Progressive side of House music.Dance floor was getting occupied.Atnarko had the club bouncing.The Vanguard has a shiny disco ball above so you know they’re legit.We ran into so many peeps from the Orlando dance scene. Some faces were new but most we knew.Luis Evans of Vizion1 reminds us that the famous “Labor Day Bash” at House of Blues in Disney Springs is just two weeks away! Featuring DJ Magic Mike (USA), DJ Icey (USA), DJ Baby Anne (USA) and many more, the event is taking place on Sunday, September 6th which is Labor Day Eve. More details and advance tickets HERE.The headliners playing at The Vanguard typically come on at 1AM and sometimes even 1:30AM. We had heard a report earlier last night from a reliable source that the headliner would be coming on at Midnight. And OMG, at midnight, there he was!DJ Sasha (GB)No announcement, no sign with his name. And his set would go completely non-vocal House.Dance floor was jammed.Packed to the rafters!Some of the biggest DJ’s in the world have played here over the years. Even in the relatively few years since their renovation into The Vanguard, we’ve seen Galantis (S), Carl Cox (GB), Icey (USA), Cosmic Gate (D), Gareth Emery (GB), Nicky Romero (NL) and more!While we’ve seen larger crowds here, it was still pretty damn packed.Lasers, which had been absent all evening, finally arrived.We checked the Blog archives for the last time we saw Sasha live and it was in 2018 when he played with John Digweed (GB) outdoors in February at Igloofest in Montreal. It was 2F°/-16C° out there!We thought his set would end at 2AM but he kept going.AtFirestone The Vanguard last night…..A good time was had by all.
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