MUSICAL MEMORIES FROM THE SHOWCASE THEATER
Soon to be torn down, the venue hosted performers from Jimmy Durante to Van Halen
Van Halen played a gig at Magic Mountain’s Showcase Theater in 1977 just before recording its debut album and embarking on a world tour — joining a lineup of big-name acts on their way up, at their peak or after their fame that headlined the soon-to-be-demolished Six Flags venue.
The outdoor amphitheater that hosted concerts by Johnny Cash, Tina Turner, Cheap Trick, Poison, MÖtley CrÜe, INXS, R.E.M., Weezer and more than 100 top bands will be torn down to make room for an anticipated new attraction this year or next.
Quiet Riot, MÖtley CrÜe and R.E.M. played Magic Mountain just as the bands were emerging and becoming rock radio regulars.
Donovan, Del Shannon, The Kingston Trio, The Righteous Brothers, Chubby Checker, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Jan & Dean, Three Dog Night and Blood, Sweat & Tears made tour stops at Magic Mountain long after their fame had faded.
Chuck Berry made a host of regular appearances between 1982 and 1992 that could have qualified him as annual passholder at the Valencia amusement park.
The heyday of the theater was 1982 to 1986, with shows by Oingo Boingo, Eurythmics, Psychedelic Furs, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Los Lobos and X.
The pinnacle was 1983, with gigs by The Bangles, Berlin, The Plimsouls, The Call, Great White and Ratt.
Along the way, a hodgepodge of one-hit wonders played the Magic Mountain venue — including Katrina & the Waves, Bow Wow Wow, Vanilla Ice, Autograph, Golden Earring, Right Said Fred, A Flock of Seagulls and Modern English.
Kiss played the theater in 1978 when Magic Mountain was used as the setting for “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park,” a made-for-television movie.
Spinal Tap performed as the second billing to a puppet show at a sparsely attended concert at a fictional theme park in a scene from the 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” filmed at the theater.
The pace of concerts at the rechristened Golden Bear Theatre slowed after a 1993 riot when a TLC show was oversold and violence erupted.
Over the next three decades, a smattering of shows brought “Weird Al” Yankovic, Weezer, The Offspring, The Jonas Brothers and Modest Mouse to the Six Flags stage.
Here’s a year-by-year list of big-name acts that played Magic Mountain between the opening of the park in 1971 and today, according to the website Setlist.fm.