Club Reports: Simons, Simons Loft, Signal (Gainesville)

By in Club Reports

This tiny passageway between buildings in downtown Gainesville was at one time in history (during the 90’s) the route to magical bliss. Because during that era, this was the entrance to Florida’s arguably most famous nightclub, Simons.
Nowadays the entrance is this brightly-lit former theater doorway entered directly from South Main Street.
We walked into this.
In the booth we found DJ Estaban (USA).
But he was playing Latin and Top 40.
Good crowd on the dance floor.
“Wobble baby Wobble”.
They have a shiny Disco ball so you know they’re legit.
Up above, the former DJ booth where back-in-the-day DJ’s such as Sasha & Digweed (GB), Keoki (USA), Chang (USA), Icey (USA), Carl Cox (GB), Paul van Dyk (D) and more all played. Having lived in Gainesville during the 90’s, it was great to be back in town to see what’s up.
Coming around to the back side of Simons we find this red-lit area upstairs called Simons Loft or simply The Loft.
Long line to enter here. Apparently some football players from the University of Florida Gators team were making celebrity appearances last night.
It was still relatively empty when we visited; everyone was in the queue downstairs!
The DJ booth was on the near side of the room.
DJ Jigg (USA) was delivering the tunes.
Mostly Hip Hop during our visit.
Next stop, the actual reason for our visit to Gainesville, club Signal. In history, it was also once known as Plasma and as the backroom of Simons.
Upon arrival we caught the final couple minutes of a set from DJ Matt Mahoney (USA). First time seeing him play.
This was a night of Breaks at Signal.
Their full liquor bar was doing ample business,
Taking over next, DJ Swagkerr (USA).
Of course we’re familiar with this Orlando and Space Coast-based DJ.
Around 11PM, Jacksonville-based DJ The Manti (USA).
His mostly-Old Skool set included a lot of vocal Breaks which we love. We particularly liked his Breaks remix of 80’s classic “You Spin Me Right Round (Like A Record)”. Had never heard that version before.
We ran into the originator of Simons: Simon Semrani himself!
We only ran into a handful of people we knew.
And some we didn’t.
Close to half-past midnight, last night’s headliner.
DJ Mike B (USA)
Lots of Breaks and scratchin’ in his set which included a number of tunes remixed to Breaks.
Songs included “Billie Jean”, “Cinema” and even an “Apple Bottom Jeans” remix with a bit of Dubstep in there!
We checked the Blog archives to see when the last time we saw this Broward-based DJ. It was in 2015 at Suite B Lounge in downtown Orlando as seen above.
Never got very crowded last night though. This is a college town and most students are too young to know Breakbeats or to be aware of the legendary history of Simons. But DJ Mike B returns along with DJ Magic Mike (USA) here at Signal on Friday, October 9th which is Gator Growl night. Advance tickets HERE.
During breaks in the action we wandered around downtown Gainesville to see if we could find some of our old haunts. This place is now called Capones but during the 90’s it was called Gruv.
Long line last night to get in.
Side view. Long time since it was a Disco but it’s still a dance club with DJ’s playing.
We also located Lillian’s Music Store. Originally a music instrument store, they kept the name and the neon sign when it became a bar in the mid-70’s and its been going strong ever since..
Last night, just a handful at the bar and in the seating area.
This is an old photo from the Blog archives. Bands do play at Lillian’s Music Room but nothing happening last night.
One of Gainesville’s longest-running nightlife venues was called Market Street Pub. It closed but we’re happy to see it has reopened as Bourbon Street. Other downtown clubs such as Central City, Sharab, Spannk, 8Seconds, Digger’s Down Under and Level are apparently long-gone. This is a university town so there’s no shortage of nightlife or potential customers.
When we lived in Gainesville in the 90’s, this club was called Animal House. Its claim to fame was dwarf-tossing using velcro. Fortunately, Section 561.665, Florida Statutes, now bans dwarf tossing. It was great to be back in Gainesville last night and a good time was had by all.