‘Rock the Plaza,’ a Star-Studded Fundraiser Led by Alice Cooper and Paul Rodgers: Review
by Jeff Burger
Rock the Plaza preserves a November 2022 concert held to raise funds for the restoration of Palm Springs, California’s historic Plaza Theatre. Like many multi-artist albums, it’s stylistically diverse and a bit uneven.
Nine of the 16 cuts feature Alice Cooper or Paul Rodgers. Cooper delivers a cover of the Who’s “My Generation,” plus his own “No More Mister Nice Guy,” “Under My Wheels” and “School’s Out,” the last of these in a medley with Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” Rodgers, who served as the vocalist for Bad Company and Free, sings the former group’s “Can’t Get Enough” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” as well as the latter band’s “All Right Now” and a cover of Sam and Dave’s “I Thank You.”
Related: Our review of a 2024 Alice Cooper concert
Those performances have their moments, but, to these ears, one of the best tracks is a cover of the exuberant “Right Down the Line.” That’s arguably the best Gerry Rafferty number not named “Baker Street,” and it garners a laudable performance here by Joshua Homme, singer and guitarist for Queens of the Stone Age.
Another standout is a reverent reading of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You, Babe,” by Queen guitarist Brian May, who organized the Plaza fundraiser, and Australian guitarist, singer, and songwriter Orianthi.
Rock the Plaza was released on Nov. 28, 2025, via Omnivore Recordings . It’s available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
Burger wrote one of the first interview-based profiles of Bruce Springsteen to be published in a national magazine. He has interviewed many other music-world luminaries as well, including Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tom Waits, Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Billy Joel, Steve Forbert, Tommy James, the Righteous Brothers, Gordon Lightfoot, Deep Purple’s Tommy Bolin, and members of Steely Dan and the Marshall Tucker Band. He has also interviewed many other public figures, such as Suze Orman, Daymond John, James Carville, Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson, F. Lee Bailey, and Cliff Robertson.
His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, all of which are published in the U.S. and Canada by Chicago Review Press. The books have been republished in numerous other countries.
Burger has been the editor of several periodicals, including Business Jet Traveler, from which he retired in 2024. During his 20 years at that
publication, it received more than 120 major editorial awards, including multiple wins for the world’s Best Consumer Travel Magazine in the annual Folio:Eddie competition.
Burger lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His wife, Madeleine Beresford, is a puppeteer and former preschool director and teacher. The couple have two grown children.
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