Rome, Sweet Rome

We genuflect to you, dance-club gods. The seasoned promoters behind the new Empire seem to have delivered on their stated intent to bring Orange County something different, and better yet, something to say “yea!” about.

Opening night at the Galaxy Concert Theatre found a theatrical theme executed so cohesively that clubbers were transported to another time and place. We knew we were still in Santa Ana: Some in the crowd glowed tan and beauteous, some wore black-root/blond spikes, and some looked surfie. But, correcting for that, we felt we’d ridden the chariot back to ancient Rome.

Caesar, draped in a white-and-gold toga, snaked throughout the cavernous Galaxy as the night took off. His lovely attendants (also paid “performance artists”) flung rose petals in his path, fanned him with a palm frond and hand-fed their imperious master ambrosial fruits.

The bacchanalian entourage brushed past towering Corinthian-esque columns entwined with ivy, ornate amphorae and writhing, caged, lit-from-below go-gos, dressed identically in golden sandals and filmy white skirtlets, leafy wreaths crowning their cascading golden curls.

The 20s set waiting on an enormous line outside got a glimpse of the goings-on via spread-legged, breastplated gladiators parked by the door, who later proceeded indoors for a staged battle.

That came after a positively apocalyptic performance by Hed(pe), the raging Huntington Beach punk-rap band. As fireworks spurted from DJ Product’s keyboard and lead guitarist Wesstyle flapped his head back and forth with the intensity of Linda Blair, the dance floor careened into a bone-crunching mosh pit. (No, the phenom hasn’t died. With every bruised but smiling participant helping one another to hurt him- or herself, it was as much of a lovefest as group aggression.)

Granted, the assaultive sextet did not jibe with the club’s disco-house leanings, nor its Holy Roman theme. And, the dance-club gods may prove fickle: It seems school finals are occupying some of the performance artists. Don’t expect any tonight. But the living props are scheduled to be back next week and every Thursday thereafter.

The club’s debut sure brought out the hordes. Lead promoter deejay Beej, who puts on Empire with John Huntington and others, wouldn’t say how many showed up. But they sent out double the usual number of fliers: 60,000. The Galaxy’s legal capacity is 650. You do the math, with this clue: I’m never going to use the modifier “packed” again, now that I’ve seen packed.

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The Galaxy’s smaller room also was packed--I mean, extremely crowded. Huge paper parasols contributed to its Chinese theme. Deejay Danny Love did the honors.

Beej and company plan to change the main room’s theme (Egyptian Empire? The Empire Strikes Back?) every month and continue to book an eclectic slate of bands.

Hopefully, they’ll do something about the mediocre air-conditioning too, particularly in the smaller room, and make sure those performers come back. But with any luck, this Empire won’t crumble for a long, long time. Beej ran one of the county’s most successful, long-lived clubs--Disco 2000--from 1992-96. Dance-club gods, be with us.

BE THERE

Empire, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana; (714) 263-4695. Thursday, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Cover: $5 before 10:30 p.m., $10 after.