The Beat of Technology

When I first heard about the new Global Village, I somehow thought it was a round-the-clock, all-inclusive entertainment emporium taking up an entire strip center with a multimillion-dollar computer-game arcade, shops, a late-night dance club and a vast coffeehouse. But names can be deceiving.

This unflashy Fullerton outlet, which shares a strip mall with a Smart & Final and lots of other retailers, is more of a storefront than a village.

Still, the multipurpose entertainment-center concept behind the project, a work in progress, is ambitious for anybody this side of the Irvine Co., particularly a single owner, and dancers have gotten wind of Victoria Martin’s place, sometimes packing its near-nightly promotions.

The 6,700-square-foot venue consists of two or three public spaces, depending on how you count it. One side of the nondescript, black-and-white front room contains a desk, two $1-per-game coin-operated pool tables, a seating area and snack machines.

The other side has a wall lined with 16 computers and workstations, although their high-speed T-one modems aren’t expected to be installed before Friday, says general manager Raul Castro.

Meanwhile, the real action has been taking place in the back room, which can fill up and spill out into the front area after dark. It’s the dance club, with an unobstructed, 4,000-square-foot floor.

Computerville decor reigns, and the room’s concrete floor is painted black and white to look like a huge computer chip. Its long, silvery bar foundation is a sculpture of metallic computer innards and sundry electronic parts.

All that especially fits the mood Thursday through Saturday nights when a group of promoters calling itself Digital Klinic brings in local deejays to spin hard-core techno and house music.

Global Village, opened in January, hasn’t gotten a liquor license, so soda and juice are served, and it’s open to all ages. Teens dominated on a recent Thursday. (If a license comes in, the dance club will be open to those 21 and over.)

The July 3 crowd was slim, but that didn’t keep a lip-pierced set from enjoying the jagged, electronic beat by break dancing (it’s baaaack. . .) or hopping Pogo-style to the jerky, computerized light show shooting laser beams of color into a dark room filled with diaphanous white smoke.

Digital Klinic’s promoters, employees of Costa Mesa’s Dr. Freeclouds underground recorded dance music store, supply such deejays as Simply Jeff, Andren and Scott Allen.

For an entirely different vibe--wherein nobody dances without holding a partner by the hands--and live music, try Tuesdays, which pack a crowd for East Coast swing and Lindy hopping.

Dubbing the night Super Murgatroid (a term from the “Swing Kids” film), manager Castro has booked such bands as Swingtips & Blue Jeans and Russell Scott & His Red Hots. Weekly dance lessons by Bernard of Hollywood, who teaches at Los Angeles’ venerable Brown Derby, begin at 8 p.m.

Flat Top Tom & His Jump Cats are lined up for a special event on July 29 to include a fashion show by El Pachuco, a Fullerton zoot-suit store.

Karaoke night happens every other Monday at Global Village, and starting this weekend local alternative bands, starting with Lullaby Diary, will be showcased every Sunday, according to Castro. By mid-July, he said, he plans to have an ‘80s flashback night on Wednesdays.

Meanwhile, the venue’s computers are set up for games, and its doors open every day at noon, staying open until 5 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and until 2 a.m. the rest of the week.

Martin, who had owned a courier service and a hair salon, hopes by September to open a restaurant, perhaps Italian, on-site too.

BE THERE

Global Village, 2443 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton; (714) 446-8860. Recorded techno music 9:30 p.m.-5 a.m. Thursday-Saturday. Cover: $9. East Coast swing dancing to live music 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday; 8 p.m. lesson. Cover: $7.