The US Airways Center always has the goods on Entertainment
I was able to walk around downtown Phoenix the other day amidst all the light rail congestion, and came upon the US Airways Center. I was pleased to see a display board surrounded by palm trees telling me about all the upcoming events from concerts to sporting events and the sports store located on the north side of the arena. What used to be called America West Arena took on a huge face-lift with a Bud Light Paseo featuring evening light shows and a fun outside bar scene in the evenings during Suns and Roadrunners games. I went to the box office to find there were still tickets available to see Eric Clapton with the Robert Cray Band opening and a Suns/Rockets home game.
I was able to acquire great seats to both and took in a wonderful show of jazzy blues to rock n'roll on Sunday night and a 21 point Suns victory over Yao Ming,Tracy Mcgrady and the highly-touted Rockets on Monday night while I was in town. Both performances had the same flare for the dramatic with a stellar lighted background on an Eric Clapton show for the ages and a fast-paced lightning offensive game from the likes of Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa and the Suns. I enjoyed the Clapton show from start to finish with Robert Cray beginning the evening to a light jazzy feel of dynamic electric guitar and Clapton finishing the night strong with smashing rock tunes like "Layla" and "Cocaine". Clapton still had it after all these years and teased the fans with songs from his Cream of Clapton era.
I couldn't have asked for more coming back to the US Airways Center a night later for an upbeat, high charged Suns basketball game. The cheerleaders got the fans revved up, and the Suns play shifted the crowd into high gear and high praise for the second best team in the Western Conference. The Suns featured above the rim play from Shawn Marion, dazzling circus passes from 2-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, and good defense across the board from Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas.
This was an engaging sports spectatcular for a reasonable price, and the run-and-gun Suns strategy lived up to its billing with the Suns blowing away the Texas team by 21 points. There was no stop in the Phoenix offense and it kept you on the edge of your seats. I didn't want to leave my seat, but if I did the arena was filled with great concessions, Subway, Coldstone Creamery, pizza, and a variey of merchandise at the Suns team shop. I was thrilled with my trips to the US Airways Center on back-to-back nights. Parking was convenient and they didn't overcharge, but if the price wasn't right, you could walk about 5 blocks and park on the street for free. All in all the experience couldn't be topped at the US Airways Center located on 1st Ave. and Jefferson right in the middle of Chase Field(D-backs baseball stadium) and the Dodge Theatre. This arena is my Number 1 spot on the Top Ten of historic sports venues still active in Phoenix.
