The Riverside Press-Enterprise
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.
1971
The Grass Roots Jimmy Durante Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
Pat Boone
Red Skelton Sonny & Cher
1972
Tiny Tim
1973
Bobby Darin Jose Feliciano
1974
Jerry Lee Lewis The Supremes
1975
Tanya Tucker
1977
Van Halen
1978 Kiss 1980
Chuck Berry
1981
The 5th Dimension Elvin Bishop Gatlin Brothers Jan & Dean Juice Newton Kingston Trio Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Temptations
1982
A Flock of Seagulls Bow Wow Wow Chubby Checker Chuck Berry Conway Twitty
Del Shannon
Gang of Four Golden Earring Greg Kihn Band Huey Lewis & the News Johnny Cash Loretta Lynn Marshall Crenshaw Mel Tillis
Merle Haggard Missing Persons The Motels Mötley Crüe
Oingo Boingo Plimsouls
Ricky Nelson Sparks
Talk Talk
The Tubes
The Waitresses
1983
The Bangles Berlin
Bow Wow Wow
The Call Chuck Berry Eurythmics Great White Greg Kihn Band INXS
Jan & Dean Modern English Plimsouls Psychedelic Furs Quiet Riot R.E.M.
Ratt
Ricky Nelson Romeo Void Sparks Thompson Twins Three Dog Night Tina Turner Wall of Voodoo
1984
A Flock of Seagulls Berlin
Blood, Sweat & Tears Cheap Trick Chuck Berry Debarge Dwight Twilley Grandmaster Flash Lita Ford
Molly Hatchet Night Ranger Oingo Boingo Righteous Brothers Sparks
Spinal Tap
The Spinners
Talk Talk
Three Dog Night Thomas Dolby The Tubes Wang Chung
1985
Autograph
The Bangles
Blue Oyster Cult Chuck Berry
Dokken
Donovan
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts John Waite
Katrina & the Waves Lords of the New Church Loretta Lynn
Los Lobos
Missing Persons
Oingo Boingo
Three Dog Night
X
1986
A Flock of Seagulls Blow Monkeys Blue Oyster Cult The Call
Chuck Berry Fabulous Thunderbirds Fine Young Cannibals Four Tops
Juice Newton
Lita Ford Modern English Sparks
The Spinners Stryper
The Tubes Untouchables
1987
Beat Farmers Charlie Daniels Band Debbie Gibson The Fixx Richard Marx Sha Na Na Untouchables
1988
Belinda Carlisle
Bo Didley
Expose
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
Nia Peeples
1989
New Kids on the Block Paula Abdul
1990 Expose Poison 1991
C+C Music Factory Chuck Berry Vanilla Ice
1992
Chuck Berry Dramarama
Four Tops
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
Right Said Fred
The Spinners
1993
Gene Loves Jezebel Kris Kross
TLC
1994
“Weird Al” Yankovic
1995
“Weird Al” Yankovic
1996
“Weird Al” Yankovic
2001
Offspring Weezer
2007
Jonas Brothers Modest Mouse
2009
Aquabats