Scent of Orange Kebab Rises From Weenie Roast

Hometown talent will have an ample chance to shine at today’s Fifth Annual KROQ Weenie Roast & Luau.

The presence of the Offspring, Social Distortion and Reel Big Fish as main-stage attractions, and Save Ferris on the second stage, underscores Orange County’s prominent position in the modern-rock world. It also signals the sometimes-crucial role KROQ has played over the past 18 years in projecting O.C. rock to a wider world.

Social Distortion’s leader, Mike Ness, recalled Thursday how it felt back in 1980 when KROQ played his band’s first recording, “1945.”: “It was amazing. I just remember how cool it sounded.”

Rodney Bingenheimer was the first disc jockey to herald the punk-rock outbreak in Orange County during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. His Sunday night show on KROQ and “Rodney on the Roq” compilation albums introduced the cornerstones of O.C. alternative rock: the Crowd, Social Distortion, Agent Orange, the Adolescents and T.S.O.L.

Among those turned on to punk rock by the first “Rodney on the Roq” LP was Dexter Holland of the Offspring. “That album was influential in us starting a band,” he said Thursday.

In 1994, 10 years after Offspring founders Holland and Greg Kriesel first picked up guitars, KROQ’s pumping of “Come Out and Play” helped lift the band from the punk-rock underground to the realm of million-selling success. “I give them a lot of credit,” Holland said.

Today the Offspring will become the first band to get a second bite of the Weenie. Holland remembered the moment at the 1994 Weenie Roast when he and his bandmates were wheeled into view on the rotating stage at Irvine Meadows. A big ovation greeted them--applause not for the Offspring, but for the departing band, James.

“It was kind of intimidating, actually. Luckily for us, we had a good day. It really did go pretty well.”

The Offspring’s return engagement comes five months into a marathon tour. “Smash” has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide, setting perhaps impossible commercial expectations for the follow-up, “Ixnay on the Hombre.” But Holland is optimistic: “The record has sold 2 million worldwide, and we’ve only gone through two singles.” The band will make a video for a third track, “The Meaning of Life,” then head back on the road.

Social Distortion, the longest-running band in O.C. alterna-rock history, will today face 15,400 fans, its biggest ever home-county crowd. But Ness, an unreconstructed punk of the old school, still regards modern-rock’s commercial explosion with irony and bemusement.

“Festivals are not my favorite thing to do. I still believe rock ‘n’ roll is a nocturnal thing and should be done long after dark.”

But he can live with SD’s time slot near dusk. “It’ll be cool. I don’t feel we’ve played Orange County enough. We’ve been gone for the year, and it feels good to be home.”

SD’s post-Weenie itinerary calls for a road trip next month as a top act on yet another festival bill, the Warped Tour. Eventually, Ness said, the band will have to decide about a recording contract, its three-album deal with Epic having run out. The 1996 album, “White Light White Heat White Trash,” has sold about 230,000 copies--the solid level SD has maintained through the ‘90s.

“I’ve come to grips with the fact we’ve never been commercially correct,” Ness said. “It may not be our purpose in life to sell millions of records and become pop stars. The fact we’ve been able to do this for 17 years is satisfying.”

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Reel Big Fish’s KROQ hit, “Sell Out,” announces the young, ska-flavored band’s ambitions in a humorous, self-mocking way. With sales of its 1996 release, “Turn the Radio Off,” around 120,000, according to SoundScan, RBF has a toe on the path taken by No Doubt and Sublime, other O.C. ska- and reggae-influenced bands that hit the Weenie Roast on their way to the million-sellers’ circle.

Reel Big Fish’s manager, Vince Pileggi, said plans include a Warped Tour slot, a direct-to-video film project starring the band and a deal with Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins to incorporate a Reel Big Fish refrain, “Everyone’s doing the Fish/Yeah, yeah, yeah,” into its marketing schemes.

Save Ferris has caused a grass-roots buzz by selling 20,000 copies of a ska-flavored, self-financed mini-album. The full-length follow-up, “It Means Everything,” is due Aug. 12 on Epic Records. It will include remakes of several tracks from the current record, along with new material and a cover of “Come On Eileen,” the 1983 hit by Dexys Midnight Runners.