Desert Sky Pavilion, Performing arts center in Phoenix, United States

Desert Sky Pavilion is an amphitheater in Phoenix, Arizona, with 8,106 seats under a pavilion roof and room for 12,000 more on a hillside behind the main stands. The photograph shows a tall, flat-faced rectangular block of reddish-brown material with a lower wing on its right and a dark flat canopy projecting from the front, supported by vertical posts. The building sits elevated above a paved parking lot, its base meeting a slope of dirt and shrubs.

The venue opened on November 9, 1990, with Billy Joel as its inaugural performer, under the name Desert Sky Pavilion. It was later known as Ak-Chin Pavilion before taking the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre name; the sponsor is Talking Stick Resort, though the site is not on tribal land. R.E.M. recorded two tracks for their 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi there, and Fall Out Boy recorded Live in Phoenix on June 22, 2007.

The venue's name has changed with its sponsors: it opened as Desert Sky Pavilion, later became Ak-Chin Pavilion, and is now Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, though it stands on non-tribal land. Its April-to-October season centres on summer shows, and the hillside lawn behind the main stands has video screens for those seated there.

The amphitheater sits above a paved parking lot, with the main stands under the pavilion roof and 12,000 lawn spaces on the hillside behind them. The season runs from April to October, so summer shows fall in the hottest months; the open lawn has no roof.

The desert location allows the amphitheater to maintain an extended performance schedule that would not be possible for similar venues in other climates. The dry and stable weather in Phoenix lengthens the window for holding outdoor events.