Factory Works for All Ages

If you’re into house music but too young to vote, the Sound Factory--held Fridays at the Tunnel nightclub in Orange--is the place to be in the county.

The Tunnel doesn’t require identification; it’s open to all ages. The mainstay, however, is high-schoolers (mostly 14 to 18) from around the county who come to the once-a-week fest to dance off the pressures of the acne years.

Owners Jason Brooks, 24, and Richard Fite, 23, opened the Tunnel almost a year ago to provide an alcohol-free space for anyone clued in to the many subcultures, from house to Gothic, catered to here on various nights of the week. Its industrial-park address gives it the appearance of an underground club, as does Brooks’ and Fite’s effort to run it without a blatantly commercial or sterilized approach. But the Tunnel is as aboveboard as they come.

The 5,000-square-foot warehouse space is filled with eight-foot-high dance platforms, strobes, lights and a sound system that will keep ears ringing long after the night is over. On Sound Factory nights, Power 106 deejays Richard Humpty Vision, Tony B! and A.J. Mora rotate the guest slot weekly, spinning with regular deejays Richard F. (that’s Fite) and Joey Gilligan.

Revelers can escape to a small, black-washed room and crash on the many colored beanbags or thrashed couches. Another back space holds the bar, selling sodas ($1.75), coffee ($1), bottled water ($2.25) and tongue-staining slushies in 15 flavors ($2).

July 28 promises to be the biggest night of the year, says Brooks, with Sugar doing the radio hit “The Feeling.”

Meanwhile, check out live alternative and ska acts at the Tunnel’s Saturday night installation, Viva Las Vegas, or the industrial Gothic vibe Wednesday at Club Submission.

* At the Tunnel, 612 N. Eckhoff St., Orange.

* (714) 437-3166.

* Fridays only, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

* Cover: usually $10; $7 on selected nights.