Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Celebrate Opening of Icon Miami

Over the summer, one of Miami’s most legendary superclubs announced it was closing. Mansion nightclub was ending its 10 year run, but the storied venue was far from finished. ICON Hospitality bought the space and put it under the knife to create Icon Nightclub. Finally, the new Icon is ready for its closeup and what better way to launch the new club with a bang than to bring the world’s Number 1 DJ duo?

The Venue

In keeping with Mansion’s practices, Icon prices itself moderately to allow music fans to see the artists they want without lighting their wallets on fire like you might expect from LIV. As you pull up to the venue the lines are long, but seemed to be running rather smoothly. When you walk in, you’ll see a lobby area that has a nice new sheen to it. You’ll walk past that into the main room and notice a distinct feeling of more space. Even better than that, is the expansion of bars throughout the club. Now it is much easier to get a drink from pretty much anywhere inside without too much hassle. What used to be a central DJ booth is now a bar, with the VIP area tucked behind it. Another fan favorite element of Mansion stays with Icon as the 2nd floor balcony area remains free for anybody and provides the best views with plenty of space. Unlike some other Miami clubs, being general admission does not mean you’re treated like unwanted cattle here.

Mansion used to alternate between 2 layouts depending on the show, since they had the central DJ booth and also a stage up front. Now, ICON is fully focused on the front stage layout that is flanked by bars on both sides and that signature floating head. The layout gives the venue a more distinct concert feel, and the true fans have plenty of space up front while the VIP areas remain further back. The signature design elements of ICON are the Omnia-style chandelier, which cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the giant 3D mapped head structure. The chandelier is impressive, but not quite to the level of Omnia’s. The 3D head hovers down at key moments and then designs are projected onto it. It almost seems tailor made for Eric Prydz as it mirrors the logo for his latest album.

The Show

As for the big celebration, it got off to a bit of a late start as Miami club patrons typically expect the headliner around 1am, but Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike didn’t hit the decks until about 2am. If you heard their Bringing Home The Madness 3.0 set, a lot will be familiar as they showcased their hits like “Tremor” along with some upcoming IDs like their upcoming collab with W&W. Mike was his entertaining self on the mic, but limited himself just enough to keep it from becoming annoying. Whereas Bringing Home the Madness was 2.5 hours, this club set was only about an hour. It’s shorter than usual for a club set, but the crowd was having a great time and the energy was off the charts.

ICON continues to boast an impressive lineup of acts, and it’s not surprising because it shares an owner with Space Miami. Icon will surely play host to a lot of great shows during WMC this year and for many years to come.