Out & About / Ventura County : pop scene : Space Jam : New disco-sports spot in Camarillo is bathed in light shows and satellite feeds.

Dimensions Night Club & Sports Bar has been in operation a few weeks, but the grand opening celebration will take place tonight with Night Fever playing live disco music and a deejay spinning dance tunes between sets.

The place was once Gold Street, then The Stage, then Players--this Camarillo bar has had a hard-luck history. But new owner Brian Dolivek, so upbeat he could sell a raincoat to a cactus, wants to supplant the checkered past with his forward-looking rock ‘n’ roll dream.

“We put $120,000 into the place--there’s a state-of-the-art sound system, air-conditioning and the bar has been extended,” he said. “Basically, we gutted the place and started again. We wanted the place to look bigger than it really is, and I think we succeeded. Compared to the way it was, this place is more upscale, a temple for the millennium with a space setting.”

Space setting is right. Capt. Kirk would feel at home in this dimension, which has enough light show to outshine the special effects of the 79 original episodes of “Star Trek.” Dimensions may earn a heartfelt Christmas card from SoCal Edison. Every month.

The band Night Fever is probably also right. For many years in Southern California, a number of live disco bands have made their mark upon all those dancing dollies and their hopeful male admirers--all sweatin’ to the oldies. Night Fever is another such polyester-friendly outfit, appearing to have tripped over a Village People lunch box and tumbled out of a time warp.

“We want to build something every single Friday with Night Fever, then maybe get some local bands like the Ska Daddyz to play on other nights,” Dolivek said.

After the site was closed for four months, Dimensions is off and running. Saturday is DJ Dance Party. Sunday and Monday night, the NFL rules. With three satellite dishes, a million channels, six large screens and one mondo 108-inch screen, there’s no escaping pro football those days. Wednesday and Thursday are basic sports bar nights. There are drink specials every night and free buffets Monday and Friday.

Says Dolivek about his plans for success: “We’re located in the middle of the county and this is the only gig in Camarillo. The university is located 10 minutes from here and that’s going to be huge for us, a gold mine. That’s going to light this town up. In a year, we want to be the talk of everywhere. My goal is to draw people from Santa Barbara and Hollywood.”

Dolivek began his career in the rock biz at the rock bottom, as a security guard at the Red Onion in Thousand Oaks. Later, he became a sound man and then the floor manager. At Dimensions, Dolivek has opted for kinder, gentler bouncers.

“The security is your important element,” Dolivek said. “You can always find competent waitresses and bartenders, but once people feel safe, they’ll come back. I’m on a mission--I gotta do this. We’re here to stay.”

DETAILS

Night Fever at Dimensions Night Club & Sports Bar, 2258 Pickwick Drive, Camarillo, tonight at 8; $6; 384-9049.

*

*

Wendy Bucklew, the woman with big hair and a bigger voice, will bring her acoustic music to Local Hero in Ojai on Saturday night. Originally from Santa Barbara, Bucklew moved to Atlanta more than a decade ago for school but ended up hanging out with rock stars and making a couple of albums.

She was at the right place at the right time, just as the Atlanta acoustic scene was taking off. She befriended the Indigo Girls and later toured with them, becoming something of a local legend herself. Back in California for a couple of years now, Bucklew--just her and her guitar--has recorded three albums, each with one of her original paintings as a cover.

Bucklew is often found doing the coffeehouse tour--sort of like this gig. “My mom took classical guitar lessons, but she put it down and I picked it up,” Bucklew said. “I just loved the sound of the guitar. It was more of a teen angst escape thing for me. It was good therapy--but I didn’t pose in front of the mirror or anything like that.

“I always thought I was going to end up in the advertising business. My friends inspired me by saying stuff like ‘Hey, play that song again.’ Gradually, I started to sing above a whisper and got a bit more confident. Now I’ve got to take this seriously.”

DETAILS

Wendy Bucklew at Local Hero, 254 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; free; 646-3165.

*

*

Black will be the color of choice when a crowd of old-time fans and younger Goths gather to gawk at British punk legends the Damned on Thursday night at the Ventura Theatre. Still going strong a decade after its “Final Damnation” album, the band’s nightmare rock show balances the cool, the fast, the loud, the funny and the really stupid.

The Damned originally began to scare parents way back in 1976, but a succession of releases on different labels kept the group from any sort of continuity.

Moreover, the lineup has changed more than the lunch crew at McDonald’s. The drummer with the memorable name, Rat Scabies, has been gone for a while, replaced by Garrie Dreadful. Yet, several of the usual suspects remain.

Front man Dave Vanian, a former gravedigger, still looks like the boogie man or the poster boy for a dream date with Dr. Kevorkian.

Then there’s guitar player Captain Sensible, who will doubtless insult the crowd with an endless stream of witty and witless observations--tough talk for a guy in a dress. He may even once again toss raw chicken parts at the crowd--another reason black makes sense at a Damned show.

Then again, the audience has been known to retaliate--and accurately, too. The band has been spat upon for its entire career.

Sort of like Deadheads, but with a color-limited wardrobe, many hard-core Damned fans have seen the band scores of times and know all the songs by heart. “Smash It Up” will probably be the party-ender and not the evening’s theme. Mack 10 this ain’t. Their bio puts it all rather succinctly: “The Damned were always the source of thinking man’s shrapnel.”

So, for the Damned, no big-time success, but cult success? Damn right.

DETAILS

The Damned and Doppelganger at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., Thursday, 8 p.m.; $20; 653-0721.

Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.