The Vanguard

When Rolling Stone called Orlando the Seattle of electronic music, the building it was pointing to was this one: the former Firestone tire workshop on Orange Avenue, converted into a dance floor.

From tire hangar to the best club in the Southeast

Harvey Firestone ordered the construction of the Firestone Building in 1929, an art deco volume by Francis J. Kennard & Son with marquees, a parapet, and a lantern tower, in what was then the northern edge of downtown Orlando. It was a branch and workshop for the brand until 1977 and, after a final commercial attempt, closed as a workshop in 1991. In June 1993, Jon Marsa and Jan Harrold opened The Club in that shell: first a gay club and, very soon, a magnet for rave culture that brought national and international circuit DJs and extended the night until dawn. The public called it The Club at Firestone and, by 1997, Club Firestone. That same year, the magazine proclaimed it the best dance club in the Southeast, while the city tightened hours and put the venue in its crosshairs. Sasha & Digweed, Paul van Dyk, The Crystal Method, and later, large-format rap and pop passed through its dance floor. The property has been a local landmark since 1982, so every renovation must coexist with the original envelope.

Firestone Live, Venue 578, and the name that won't die

The venue didn't freeze in the nineties. It operated as Firestone Live, with concerts and club nights, and in October 2014 it became Venue 578, the number of its door. The change sought to present it as a concert venue without letting go of electronic music: parties like Ignition, Bassrush, and trap and big room tours occupied the same two-story box. The venue survived raids, the 3:00 AM closing time that Orlando imposed on clubs in 1997, and several waves of construction. The nickname Firestone, however, never completely disappeared from the city's parlance.

The Vanguard: same corner, another party machine

After a long closure and a multi-million dollar renovation, The Vanguard was revealed at the end of 2020, without a grand opening, in dribs and drabs, still with reduced capacity and with Cosmic Gate among the first nights. Today it presents itself as the largest independently owned concert venue in Central Florida: about 26,000 square feet on two floors, a 40 × 24 foot stage, four bars, private parking, a VIP area with bottle service, and the outdoor venue Lot 54, more than four acres with festival production. Insomniac and Factory 93 use it as their downtown home for EDC Orlando afterparties, Bassrush, and house, techno, and bass tours: Eric Prydz, John Summit, Chase & Status, Sasha, or Dom Dolla have passed through that box. The calendar is not just clubbing—live concerts are also included—but the function hasn't changed: a historic hangar in downtown Orlando designed so that the dance floor is the main argument.