Orange County ska scene

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The Orange County ska scene, during its prime, was one of the most thriving and active ska music scene to date. With its inception in the early 1990s, Orange County, California would continue to see an unprecedented number of local shows, emerging bands, and show attendees until the United States' third wave ska "boom" would end in 1999. For an entire decade, Orange County would set the golden standard that many other local scenes would strive for. Still today, no single area has produced more third wave ska bands, especially those that would go on to play for several years.

[edit] Commercial success

Many ska bands originating in Orange County would go on to enjoy a relatively great deal of commercial success, albeit short lived. Among the most notable are Reel Big Fish, who produced the hit song "Sell Out", which would reach number 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts in 1997. However, Anaheim's No Doubt remains as, by far, the most commercially successful and widely embraced band to come out of the scene, with numerous number one singles and a diamond-certified album entitled "Tragic Kingdom". Most believe that No Doubt is responsible for putting the O.C. ska scene "on the map" through the aforementioned release.

Moreover, bands such as The Hippos and Save Ferris would enjoy a relatively ample amount of commercial success with the albums "Heads Are Gonna Roll" and "It Means Everything", respectively. Both acts were featured on several major motion picture soundtracks during the 1990s, further bringing the booming scene outside of its southern California stomping ground.

The Aquabats, who still play today (and who just recently has seen a significant resurgence in their fan base), has remained one of the few original Orange County ska bands that still play today. However, it should be noted that the band generally doesn't play the genre of music in their most recent release, "Charge!!". The same applies to Goldfinger, who, despite once being an active forerunner in the scene, dropped the ska sound in 2001.