Prominent local musicians, all stars ready to 'Rock the Plaza' on Friday in Palm Springs

In the early 2000s, Spike Edney and his wife purchased a home in Joshua Tree and enjoyed attending performances by the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, a dance and musical-revue show with performers 55 and older at the Plaza Theatre.

Edney, a keyboardist and live member of the British rock band Queen, described the Follies as a "great concept" featuring many singers from the ’50s and ’60s that enjoyed brief periods of success, faded into obscurity and then found their way into the successful production that closed in 2014 after two decades.

Edney is also a fan of the historic theater that the Follies called home in downtown Palm Springs. He always hoped it would reopen with another show.

"In my head, I was feeling all these great things were going to happen and then nothing came back the following year, and there was nothing year after year," Edney said. "I found that very frustrating, and thought it was a waste of a major part of the cultural life of Palm Springs."

Edney reached out to his friend Brian Ray, a guitarist who lives in Palm Springs and has performed in Paul McCartney's live band since 2002, about doing a benefit show for the theater. In 2019, the pair met with J.R. Roberts, a former Palm Springs city council member who chairs The Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation.

"I told (J.R.) that I had great interest in it and wanted to be a part of (restoration efforts)," Ray said. "He showed me the (Plaza Theatre), turned on the lights and I was blown away because it’s what they used to call an ‘atmospheric theater’ like the Mayan in Los Angeles, the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara or the Chinese and Egyptian theaters that would take you to another time and place."

As a touring musician who has visited many cities across the globe, Ray is attracted to the architecture of mid-century and art deco theaters, and he is concerned when the landmarks are repurposed for retail or office space.

“I drive up and down the roads of various cities and see what used to be these great theaters where people used to watch movies together and then on the marquee it says, ‘Shoe Sale Friday,'" Ray said.

Ray and Edney then got to work on calling their friends and planned a concert featuring local residents such as Bad Company and Free frontman Paul Rodgers, Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum, and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Joshua Homme. Australian guitarist Orianthi Panagaris, Alice Cooper and more also joined the lineup.

On Friday, the musicians will perform at the all-star Rock the Plaza benefit in the theater. The concert is sold out, but donor packages including tickets are available at $3,500 to $50,000.

There will also be an online auction with rare items such as guitars signed by members of the Rock the Plaza all-star lineup, a Beatles vinyl box set personalized by Paul McCartney, Adam Lambert stage memorabilia and more. The items are available for viewing and bidding through noon on Nov. 15 at events.readysetauction.com

The benefit is 3 years in the making

In early 2020, the Save the Plaza Theatre effort initially raised almost $500,000 in cash and pledge promises toward a goal of $10 million to $12 million for a full restoration. But the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted fundraising efforts, including the "Rock the Plaza" benefit, which was originally scheduled for later that year but was never announced.

"(The board) went its separate ways and we put our masks on and hunkered down in our houses," said Ray. "In my mind, I didn’t know if we’d ever get to a place where humans would want to sit next to another stranger in a small, enclosed space ever again. I didn’t know what the future of this would hold. As the pandemic started to lift, we got back to work.”

As the pandemic waned in 2021, Save the Plaza Theatre had just over $160,000 in its coffers. Efforts were back on track later that year after the organization received a $5 million donation from television and theater producer — and Palm Springs resident — David Lee. The organization received an anonymous donation of $2 million in June. The City of Palm Springs is contributing $2 million and the state is providing $2.5 million, but the cost to restore the theater was increased by $4 million in July due to inflation.

As fundraising resumed, there were challenges in reviving the Rock the Plaza benefit. The original plan was for two concerts, one at the Plaza Theatre on Friday followed by a bigger show on Saturday in the ballroom at the Margaritaville Resort in Palm Springs. The second show was canceled when Cooper revealed a scheduling conflict. There were also scheduling conflicts with prominent actors whom organizers wanted to include in the show.

"We thought we had Billy Bob Thornton, then he got a movie, which was a real drag but that’s the way it is," Edney said. "People commit as long as their schedule allows them to do that. I was also chasing Keanu Reeves and it was the same problem. Gary Oldman lives in Palm Springs as well but he’s going to be in London. It’s a shame because he does a very passable David Bowie and that would have been great.”

Homme, the former guitarist of the local rock band Kyuss before starting Queens of the Stone Age in 1996, grew up in Palm Desert and is the only local native performing at the benefit. Ray said Homme told him a story about how he used to beg his mother to take him to the Plaza Theatre to see movies.

“That’s such a sweet story because he’s the only musician who went there as a kid that's involved in our effort. Here he is and we’re really thrilled to have him as a part of it," Ray said.

The concert is reuniting Palm Springs resident Sorum with Cooper, who performed the song "The Garden" with Guns N' Roses for the 1991 album "Use Your Illusion I." The musicians also performed together in the supergroup Hollywood Vampires, which also features actor Johnny Depp and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. Sorum was in the band from 2015 to 2017.

Even though Cooper doesn't reside in Palm Springs, Ray said the famed singer is a "real philanthropist" and supports restoring the theater.

"He does a lot of charitable works," Ray said. "He) donates golf games, golf invitations and stuff like that. I thought, ‘Hey, he’s such a great philanthropist, maybe he’d like to get involved, and he was really into it right off the bat.”

Preserving the theater for future generations

The 800-seat theater was built in 1936. It opened with the premiere of the movie “Camille” and hosted screenings and broadcast radio programs featuring celebrities such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

Sorum enjoys driving friends and family through Palm Springs in his 1962 Galaxy pointing out where these same celebrities lived. He feels the theater speaks to the city being an entertainment hub almost a century ago and what it could provide to future generations as the community attracts more music and art events.

"We’ve got more musicians coming out this way and a lot of guys are moving out here. I feel like there’s another creative wave coming to play in all the local cities," Sorum said. "The Plaza Theatre being a hub that happened back in the ’30s, it should be saved, kept as a city destination and something that’s preserved."

Ray describes Palm Springs as a city that has always "celebrated the arts," whether it be theater, burlesque, rock 'n' roll or comedy, and the theater plays a big role in the city's identity.

"Palm Springs needs to be a town that puts a flag in the sand of the desert and says ‘Art matters here' to show the world that we value a venue like this and want to preserve it for another century of joy and escape we desperately need," Ray said.

When Edney considers the theater's operations in the near future, he believes it should incorporate its vibrant history with a variety of entertainment options for local residents and visitors.

“On any given night, you should be able to go and see a play, a musical, band or even some great movie that premiered there in the past or something from the Golden Age of Hollywood, which that theater was built for. It will be great to see some of that stuff and I think there’s potential," Edney said.

A previous version of this article mistakenly stated the incorrect year that Ray began performing with McCartney. Ray joined McCartney's live band in 2002. 

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Prominent local musicians, all-stars ready to 'Rock the Plaza'