The Aquabats

The Aquabats! Super Show! Nominated for a Daytime Emmy; Christian Jacobs Talks About Being Family Friendly

How goes our favorite skankin', live-action TV superheroes? The last time we saw the Aquabats, they were performing at the Great Park for a 2012 summer season-ender, and there were suspiciously a ton of kids in the audience. (Maybe it has something to do with the first season The Aquabats! Super Sho ... More >>

GOGO13 Are Right Where They Want to Be . . . Finally

After 20 years, OC's most underrated ska band release their debut album

Top 25 Greatest Orange County Bands of All Time: The Complete List

Go ahead, call us a bunch of culture-less, lily-white suburbanites with a partiality to flip-flops and right-wing politics. Those kind of labels never cease to amuse us. Because one thing that instantly dooms most of the tired cliches ascribed to OC is the music--the one-of-a-kind frustration, aggre ... More >>

Top 25 Greatest Orange County Bands of All Time: 14-6

14. Reel Big FishZany, wacky, ska-rooted (though they rock harder now) Reel Big Fish elevate self-deprecation to an art form, thanks to a malcontent lead singer in Aaron Barrett, who beats you to the punch with peppy lyrics like "I'll never be anything, anything at all." He lays down these anti-What ... More >>

Flights & Sounds Summer Festival: Aquabats

OCGP

Christian Dasilva's Benefit Show Featuring Starpool and The Aquabats! - Chain Reaction - 7/23/12

Starpool & The Aquabats!Chain Reaction7/23/12Word spread quickly in the ska community following the death of Chain Reaction sound man Christian Dasilva in Huntington Beach. As a result, Starpool and The Aquabats!--two seminal OC ska bands-- joined forces to put together a last-minute benefit sho ... More >>

Aquabats To Play Christian Dasilva Benefit Concert Next Monday

By now, many have heard the sad news that Christian Dasilva, the sound guy who was as much of a part of the fabric at Chain Reaction in Anaheim as the bands that play there,, died after his motorcycle collided with a Lexus sedan. The outpouring of condolences for the 40-year-old's new and pregnant w ... More >>

MC Bat Commander Reminisces About the First Season of The Aquabats Super Show!

It's hard to believe that just four months ago we were writing about MC Bat Commander getting in front of the camera with the rest of his bandmates for the first episode of The Aquabats! Super Show! Today, fans of the The Aquabats will get one last chance this season to what OC's favorite super ... More >>

Just How Many Times Did Ska Legends the English Beat Say 'Fellator' In One Song?

By the late 1980s ska was tired and in need of a heart and lung transplant. Orange County would, in fact, become home to the biggest and most influential of so-called third wave of ska revivals (there was also one in New York) because it had two things vital to the development of any such trend: inv ... More >>

Ian Fowles on Joining the Aquabats and Playing Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk

​Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk, known to the real world as Ian Fowles, is the newest member of the sonic shredder and Aquabats guitarist. Fowles joined the Aquabats in 2010, and the guitarist (who, FYI, is also an author) was best known as the guitarist for the hardcore punk band Death by Stereo befor ... More >>

Aquabats: Behind the Scenes of the OC Weekly Photoshoot

​Why are we so into the Aquabats? It might be because their show, which airs on the Hub Saturdays at 8 a.m., is hilarious. (Have you seen it? It would do you good to record it on your DVR.) And of course there's the fact that the members of the Aquabats are really nice guys. So, yeah, after we pu ... More >>

The OC Music Awards Ceremony at the Grove, Mar. 3, 2012

​The OC Music Awards Ceremony City National Grove of AnaheimMar. 3, 2012Judging by the throngs of people leaving their tables before the award for best video was announced, it seems I'm not the only one who found this weekend's OC Music Awards Ceremony to be a two-hour snore fest. Those of us ... More >>

Reel Big Fish's Aaron Barrett Talks About the Aquabats (Plus: Watch the Aquabats! Super Show! Promo)

​The Aquabats and Reel Big Fish have a long history together; they started out playing the same lineups in the third-wave ska revival of the '90s, and supported each other through the years. Most recently, the two bands toured together in 2010, to the delight of many fans dying to relive 1997. Wik ... More >>

Reintroducing the Aquabats

Who's who in the current lineup

The Mythos of the Aquabats

An origin story

MC Bat Commander's Head Explodes!

Christian Jacobs' 15-year journey from leading the ultimate OC cult band to 'The Aquabats! Super Show!'

Aquabats: Watch the Original Five Minute Pilot from 1999!

​This week's cover story on the Aquabats and their new TV show for the Hub, The Aquabats! Super Show! will debut this weekend on Saturday, 8 a.m.Now, the Aquabats are no stranger to many OC fans, having been crucial part of the third-wave ska revival of th 1990s. But more than that, the band's fro ... More >>

Aquabats' Christian Jacobs: Five Roles He Played as a Child Actor

​Our upcoming cover story on the Aquabats and their new TV show for the Hub, The Aquabats! Super Show! debuting this weekend led to a ton of research on Christian Jacobs, aka MC Bat Commander, Aquabats frontman and co-creator of Yo Gabba Gabba. One of the more interesting things about him (and the ... More >>

[UPDATED: Young the Giant Responds!] Does OC Have BO? Why Do Orange County Bands Distance Themselves?

​Young the Giant tweeted at us yesterday after the blog went live. They said, "We live in the quiet hills of East LA and the label doesn't pay rent. We do. We live together and can write at will this way. We appreciate your concern but we are OC all the way. Straight Irvine OG represent."  Ri ... More >>

OC Music Awards 2012 Nominees Announced: How the Process Works

​UPDATED:Yesterday we talked to the OC Music Awards about claims that the nomination process isn't exactly transparent, with some OC Music Awards Academy members also nominated as musicians in various categories (see more after the jump.) Today I got an email from Weekly reader Nathan Hoffmann, as ... More >>

Aquabats

Glass House

What You Missed: Cougar Convention, Snoop Dogg, Bulldog Beauty Contest, Inspiration Vintage Fair, Smith Westerns, Aquabats

Jacob Khan/OC Weekly​Happy Valentine's Day! Wondering what you may have missed this weekend? There were cougars galore at the Shark Club in Costa Mesa for the first Orange County Cougar Convention, Snoop Dogg rolled through Pomona for a performance at the Fox Theater, and one dog took the crown at ... More >>

Local Record Review: The Aquabats

Beat Blvd. is Heard Mentality's weekly review of local releases. If you're an OC musician or band with something new to offer--vinyl single, full-length album, CD, cassette--we want to hear from you! Send copies, along with any photos and PR material, to Beat Blvd., c/o OC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill Ave. ... More >>

The Toasters

Slide Bar

[UPDATE: Sold Out!] Coachella 2011 Lineup Revealed! Finally!

​UPDATE, JAN. 26, 2:40 P.M.: It's official--Coachella tickets have sold out. Stay tuned for details on whether more will be released.   ORIGINAL ITEM, JAN. 18, 10 P.M.: Forget those fake posters; it's finally here: The official lineup for Coachella 2011. After the jump, the full flier. Be war ... More >>

OC Music Awards Nominees Are Out Now!

Dagha Bloom nominated for Best New Album​​Finally, the nomination ballots are in, and the 2011 nominees have been announced. Some artists are past winners, while other nominees are fresh faces to the OC scene. The OC Music Awards added two new categories for this year: Best Youth Artist and ... More >>

An Interview with Aquabats Singer The MC Bat Commander

​After a five-year hiatus, the perennially goofy Orange County ska-punk band the Aquabats will be releasing a new album. Unless you've been living under a rock in the interim, you know lead singer MC Bat Commander (aka Christian Jacobs) has been busy creating, writing and directing the hugely succ ... More >>

The Aquabats! Reveal New Album Title and Cover Art

​The Aquabats just revealed the details of their new album,  Hi-Five Soup! Set for release on Jan.18, Guess who has a cameo in it? Hip-hop rapper/comedian/Yo Gabba Gabba actor Biz Markie! He does his bit in "Radio Down," which was also in the EP Radio Down! released in November. 

Orange Bits: No Doubt, The Aquabats, Local Natives

The Aquabats​This week's edition of news we didn't write involves our mainstays (who else?) the Local Natives, No Doubt's Adrian Young and Bayside...read on after the jump.

Reel Big Fish to Tour with Goldfinger and Aquabats!

​ The press release called the event an "all-out bash of the ska punk titans," and we'd have to agree. In a previous interview with OC Weekly, Reel Big Fish front man Aaron Barrett said they'd performed in Brazil with Goldfinger earlier this year; it was so much fun they decided to set out and do ... More >>

Locally Grown Finale Featuring Reel Big Fish at the Grove of Anaheim

Meg Strouse/OC Weekly​Check out our Reel Big Fish slideshow here!Chase Long Beach, Starpool, Suburban Legends, Reel Big FishSeptember 18, 2010Grove of AnaheimThird-wave ska, that unapologetically goofy genre, was born and raised in Orange County. Turn on the radio in the mid-1990s, and there was n ... More >>

The Aquabats

The Glass House

TONIGHT: Aquabats, TSOL at OC Tavern

​Well, how about this? A free local show tonight from two of the most prominent veteran Orange County bands. Life could be worse.It's the "Surfercross After Party," from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the OC Tavern in San Clemente, and featuring performances from the Aquabats (pictured, but you already knew ... More >>

Incoming: The Casualties, The Aquabats, The Get Up Kids at the Glass House; Airborne Toxic Event at the Fox

Kristy SparrowThe Airborne Toxic Event, very clearly creating a fire hazard.As always, big things poppin' in downtown P-town.

The Vandals, Asher Roth, More Added to Bamboozle Left

With less than a month to go before Bamboozle Left, a whole mess of new acts have been announced for the two day festival, set for April 4 and 5 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. Pleasantly, a couple of the acts are even from Orange County--like punk legends the Vandals (on April 5) an ... More >>

Capes and Keyboards

The Aquabats

Space 
Invaders

Supernova

Celebrity Fave-Raves Edition

The year in music

Friday - 11/30

The Aquabats at the Glass House, Jersey Boys at OCPAC, Imagine Peace Vigil in Irvine

Locals Only

Strange New World

SUPER RAD FOREVER!

Low Ball Ass Chatter

Texas is the reason

The 129 Greatest OC Bands Ever: 51 - 89

Albino Brown

Social commentator, Radio Host/Producer (SP Radio One, The Ska Parade), Filmmaker, Breakdancer, Street Poet, Music Historian

Aggro-Rock Gets Aquabattered

THATS LOWBALLASSCHATTER TO YOU!

Pretty In Pink

Aural Reports

What's Buzzing Through the Skulls of Orange County?

Bunny Moseley of the Moseleys

The Aquabats are a bunch of giddy freaks