Angie Blair

State Hornet

If you weren’t able to make it to Las Vegas over springbreak, there is no need to worry &- you can get a pretty goodpreview of the desert nightlife in downtown Sacramento.

The new Empire Club, located on the corner of 15th and Rstreets, surpasses all other nightclubs in Sacramento in everyaspect. From live entertainment to the VIP lounge, it is the firstof its kind here in the River City.

Empire opened a couple of weeks ago to massive crowds. From thelook of the line of people wrapped around the block for the firsttwo weekends it was open, I concluded I could get a better idea ofwhat the club was about if I waited a while. So on a recent Fridaynight I gathered some friends and decided to brave the line, thecover charge and the dress code. The dress code includes no shorts,sandals, baggy jeans, athletic attire, hats, gang-related clothingor tattoos. Does she mean gang-related tattoos or no tattoos,period?

We showed up around 9:45 p.m. and to our surprise there was noline. The bouncer thoroughly inspected our IDs and asked us aseries of questions about our birth dates and addresses. Note tofake ID users: this is not the best place to test them out. Wepassed the test, so he let us through the door, at which point wewere charged a $10 cover. Any cover over $5 is pretty much unheardof in Sacramento, but we were too curious to turn back.

As we headed inside we were in awe of the size and aesthetics ofthe club. You could almost be transported to another place, faraway from Sacramento. A number of huge screens played clips fromSaturday Night Live and random music videos. “The Dave”spun an eclectic mix of ’70s and ’80s jams with alittle ’90s hip-hop tossed in.

We were delighted to see that the club wasn’t even halffull yet, so the bar was readily accessible. We weren’t asdelighted to find that three cocktails cost us $22. Combine thiswith the cover charge and the cab ride home and this was no cheapnight.

We secured a table in the middle of the club so we could surveythe scene. The disc jockey asked us to turn our attention to centerstage to behold the Empire Dancers. This dance group was about 10girls wearing hot pants and multicolored wigs doing anot-so-N’Sync dance to a Britney Spears song. It was moreinterruptive than entertaining.

After a few more songs, the DJ again caught our attention andannounced a man named Garibaldi. This 21-year-old artist paintedportraits of pop culture icons to music in just seven minutes. Thisparticular night he created an astonishingly good portrait of JimiHendrix and the crowd went wild. This was one of the moreentertaining points of the night.

As for the rest of the Empire experience: we checked out thedifferent rooms, which include a candlelit space enclosed by glassdoors with its own separate bar, and cushy couches. This room isgood for getting away from the crowd and noise and chatting withfriends. Also, a VIP lounge upstairs overlooks the club.

Even the bathrooms are a step above an average club setting. Anattendant is waiting for you as you exit your stall with papertowels, gum, body spray and disposable combs. I’m not surewhat they have to offer in the men’s bathroom &- Ididn’t have that many cocktails.

By the time we left around 11 p.m. there was a line forming, soanyone intending to gain quick admittance better get thereearly.

The Empire Club is new and they are still trying to make a nameas a concert venue as well as an ultra-cool club. I’m justnot sure if after the newness wears off Sacramento patrons will bewilling to pay such high priced for a night out on the town.