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July 2025 by Troy Montenegro
Great venue. Gets a little cramped now that the upstairs is reserved for VIP only.
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July 2025 by Trishla Shah
Great sound system! Large dance floor and great VIP floor.
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June 2025 by Elena Lopez
Oversold shows. Too crowded. Vip is hardly vip.
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June 2025 by Steven
This venue is great! Been a few times now and have enjoyed every time. Great vibes, great staff, great music.
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June 2025 by Kiran Shrestha
Easy to find and interior layout is great. Professional and seasoned staff on both sides of the bar.
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June 2025 by Ardnat Evagold
I had a great time at Reggaefest
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June 2025 by Ryan Norman
Awesome historic venue with premium lights, fog, co2, lasers, and pro audio 🔉.
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June 2025 by John Richards 101
This venue waaaaay oversold the floor. People were fighting each other it was so overpacked.
Bad practices, big waste of time
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June 2025 by K Smith
Post-forbidden kingdom; clearly states water packs are fine for after festival (cuz who goes home to come back to this side of ORL???) we get there and aren't allowed in after almost $60 tickets cuz of our bags?!?! Allegedly cuz one of the artists said no... well the artist didn't perform at FK so they aren't that big clearly so why no bags🤣
Update: they’re letting people in with them and we don’t have ours HAHA
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May 2025 by Booty X
Quit overselling your shows.. at this point since making a profit is the only thing the vanguard cares about, I’d rather pay more for my ticket then to deal with being packed into an already small space. Do better.
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May 2025 by Marvin Jr.
Look. GOD SPEED if you ever go see a DJ perform here. 🙄😂 Wayyy too tight for the DJ's that spin there. So hot to where the pipes are sweating..... ( especially shows in the summer / early fall. ) The balcony has poor visibility with a soundboard right in the middle so you have to stand far back. Small square open area on the first floor that you usually have to push by other show goers to get to the middle. Dillion Francis is coming up who I'd love to see, but I know at this venue it's definitely going to be a shit show. Why they don't utilize the lot outside more like they've done for shows in the past is beyond me. How are you going to have DJ's that HEADLINE at festivals like EDC in this tight ass venue? 🙃 If a developer in Orlando is reading this, can you please develop a club that will be better than this.....? I'm telling you right now that you would make business for sure, especially if the venue is big enough to accommodate people comfortably. If you're going to see a not so well known performer, you'll most likely have at least a decent experience. Don't say I didn't warn y'all after you've spent 3 hours in line trying to get in just to be cramped. Happy Raving. 😵💫😌😑
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May 2025 by Virginia “Jin” F.
Loved this venue and saw hippie sabotage here. Was a great venue and the sound was perfect
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May 2025 by B L
Pros: The best EDM club in Orlando. Operating under Insomniac/EDC company. Headliners on the schedule constantly. Good security at the entrance with detectors and lots of staff. Great visuals, lights, sound, and lazers. Cons: Gets very crowded - especially downstairs, super hot club that feels like no AC. They lack air conditioning and have overpriced drinks. Average drink price is $15- $20 served in a plastic cup. They could eliminate the bar near the dance floor to allow for more room. Most all bars have very little crowd with bar staff sitting around. Upstairs is virtually impossible to see anything and you can only watch the TVs as the whole perimeter is roped off for VIP table service.
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May 2025 by Joan Abreu
The location, the atmosphere, the staff, the drinks and the music are in my opinion a 5/5, despite the times that it has been very crowded the place feels safe. Clean bathrooms, excellent lighting. I’ll be back.
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May 2025 by John M
Update (5/2025)
Simply the worst venue in Florida, if not the entire country, for high tier EDM artists.
Vanguard has had such a fall from grace, plagued by incompetent management who is incapable of receiving and acting on customer feedback. If you visit for an artist that is above mid-tier, expect to be packed in like sardines, unable to get a view due to the poor club layout, and wait in a long line.
VIP is not a good solution as your experience is secondary to bottle service which lines the upstairs rail. Downstairs is an absolute mess, and you will not want to be in that crowd.
Avoid at all costs, unless it’s a low-mid tier artist or an artist you absolutely must see, and if it is, get there early to get a decent spot and do not buy drinks at Vanguard until they act on customer feedback.
Old review:
Keep up the good work Vanguard. A lot of thought & effort was clearly put into the renovation & reimagination of this historic downtown Orlando concert location (formerly Firestone Live & Venue 578, with a long history before that). Security lines move fairly quickly, door staff are friendly and not stereotypical, plenty of bartenders, great audio & visual production quality, and finally the partnership with Insomniac is really bringing some great talent in. This was worth the wait and feels like a professional concert venue like House of Blues or Hard Rock. Without a doubt, it is the best concert venue in Orlando right now. So long as they don't get complacent, I'm sure people will keep coming back.
Areas of improvement:
- Maximum capacity limit is far too high for the layout of the venue. If you see a show is in tier 3, start getting hesitant. If it’s beyond tier 3, consider not buying tickets or selling the ones you have. There should always be somewhere in a venue where you can chill without being shoulder to shoulder (especially in Florida, and COVID era). Vanguard does not provide this when shows are beyond tier 3. You will be fighting for wherever you want to stand, unless you have bottle service. Vanguard, For popular/sold out shows, please reduce max capacity and increase price to recoup that money.
- If a customer asks for their drink to remain in a can, give it to them. Again, there’s too many people and it was too easy to split it.
