The Arizona Financial Theatre (formerly known as the Dodge Theatre, the Comerica Theatre and the Arizona Federal Theatre) is a multi-use theatre in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The venue seats 5,000 people.

History

Jerry Colangelo Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939) is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizo ...

, longtime former owner of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

and

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, was one of the original investors. The facility, designed by Dan Meis of

NBBJ NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.. NBBJ provides services in arch ...

, was designed to fill the need for performers that don't need a huge sports stadium, but are too large for the smaller, intimate venues. It opened in the spring of 2002 as part of the ongoing redevelopment efforts in Downtown Phoenix, and reached the 2 million mark in attendance in 2009.

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertai ...

began operating the venue in 2007. The theater's name was first changed in October 2010 after

Comerica Bank Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Bank, The Retail Bank and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helpin ...

acquired the naming rights. On December 18, 2019, the theatre was renamed to Arizona Federal Theatre, as Arizona Federal Credit Union owned the naming rights. On July 11, 2022, the theatre was renamed once again to Arizona Financial Theatre after the rebranding of Arizona Federal Credit Union into Arizona Financial Credit Union.

Events

The theatre is probably best recognized as the stage for the comedy movie '' Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie''. In addition to this, George Lopez's most recent HBO Special, ''America's Mexican'', was aired live at the venue. Rock group

Chickenfoot Chickenfoot is an American hard rock supergroup formed in 2008. The group consists of vocalist Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen and - Montrose), bassist Michael Anthony (also ex-Van Halen), guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili ...

recorded their live album ''Get Your Buzz On'' there and it also hosted the 2010

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

Induction Ceremony and the 2015

NFL Honors The NFL Honors is an annual awards presentation in the National Football League (NFL). The television special is held the night before the Super Bowl (except 2022 when it was held on a Thursday) at the game's host city and on the network carryi ...

. It is also a venue for

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and family stage shows that play the Phoenix area, and in the theater's first few years the Arizona edition of the

Radio City Christmas Spectacular The ''Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes'' is an annual musical holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The 90-minute show features more than 140 performers and an original musical score, an ...

took place at the venue. On September 14, 2004,

Barney's Colorful World ''Barney's Colorful World'' was a stage show based on the Barney franchise. The show was first performed in January 2003 and toured until late 2004. In this stage show, Barney & his friends go around the world with the power of imagination. The ...

- Barney's fifth stage show and third national stage show tour was taped here. Mexican pop singer

Paulina Rubio Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes (; born 17 June 1971) is a Mexican singer. Referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Golden Girl" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she first achieved recognition as ...

performed here on May 14, 2005, on her "Pau-Lenques" tour in support of her 2004 album '' Pau-Latina''.

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

brought her Pure Heroine Tour to the theatre on April 17, 2014, performing here in between her two shows at Coachella.

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

performed a sold-out show at the theatre on April 8, 2011, as part of her

Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour was the sixth concert tour by American recording artist Janet Jackson. It showcased her sophomore compilation album, ''Number Ones'' and visited Asia, North America, Europe, Australia, and Africa. Jac ...

. She returned to the theatre on October 19, 2015, as part of her Unbreakable World Tour.

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent r ...

performed her first show in Arizona at the theatre on April 15, 2014, as part of her

Paradise Tour The Paradise Tour was the second concert tour by American singer, Lana Del Rey, in support of her third extended play, ''Paradise''. The tour kicked off on April 3, 2013 at Galaxie Mega Hall in Amnéville, France and visited many major Europea ...

. Latin singer

Yuridia Yuridia Francisca Gaxiola Flores, commonly known as Yuridia, (born October 4, 1986) is a Mexican singer. She came in second place in the fourth season of the reality show '' La Academia'', which launched her career. In 2005, Yuridia released her ...

performed here on November 21, 2012, as part of her Para Mí Tour.

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his th ...

has performed shows here for both his Suburbia Tour and Bloom Tour.

Notable concerts

References

{{Authority control Music venues in Arizona Sports venues in Phoenix, Arizona Concert halls in Arizona NBBJ buildings Buildings and structures in Phoenix, Arizona Tourist attractions in Phoenix, Arizona Sports venues completed in 2002 Music venues completed in 2002 2002 establishments in Arizona