A Paul McCartney concert at Liverpool FC's home Anfield, a flagship event in the Merseyside city's Capital Of Culture programme, was only finalised this week, even though it is due to happen in seven weeks time and all tickets have already sold out.
According to the BBC, a deal with McCartney Productions Ltd was only agreed this week, and cynics argue that the fact the deal hadn't been done before tickets were sold for the event gave the McCartney company too strong a hand at the negotiating table, because if a deal couldn't be reached the event would have been cancelled. That said, neither McCartney nor Liverpool Football Club will make a fee from the event, though it will still cost a reported £1.7 million to stage, money to be paid by the Liverpool City Council. The Council will also cover any budget overspend. It is unclear how much of that budget will be covered by ticket sales to date - though licence permitting it is expected an extra 11,000 tickets will now be made available in a bid to raise extra revenues.
Telly man Phil Redmond, who is Creative Director of the Liverpool Culture Company that is coordinating the city's Capital Of Culture activity, told BBC Radio Merseyside about the drawn out negotiations with the McCartney company: "This is what his [McCartney's] men are paid for. They are paid to get the best deal and protect him. He's not taking a fee for it but everything around it still has to be paid".