Comment: Sir Paul McCartney concert cost will pay dividends

Apr 15 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

IT IS arguably set to be the most talked-about event of Culture Year. The Liverpool Sound concert at Anfield, headlined by Sir Paul McCartney, is tipped to be a musical feast which will have the eyes of the world glued to the city this summer.

Today, we reveal that the budget for the event has increased from £1.78m to £1.94m, and that it is hoped that 11,000 extra tickets can be released for sale, which will help to meet the aspiration of keeping the extravaganza cost-neutral.

This will come as great news for everyone who initially missed out on securing a ticket, when the original allocation was snapped up in a buying frenzy within hours of going on sale. But it will inevitably lead to raised eyebrows among some council taxpayers, who may question the wisdom of staging such an expensive concert, as they will no doubt wonder at the £50,000 paid in expenses to Ringo Starr for his appearances at the opening events of Culture Year, back in January. In essence, though, such concerns really miss the point.

Ringo may not exactly be everyone in Liverpool's favourite son any more, thanks to his ill-judged performance on the Jonathan Ross Show a few days after the opening ceremony, but there is no doubt it was his involvement in those events that guaranteed them an extra- ordinary degree of worldwide exposure.

Sir Paul's appearance in June will un- doubtedly have an even greater impact, assuring Liverpool once again a massive worldwide profile. The Beatles remain box office of the most potent kind.

It is difficult to quantify the value of such exposure in cash terms, but it would cost a colossal sum to stage an advertising campaign for the city with anything like the same level of global impact in terms of raising positive awareness of Liverpool.

Achieving that awareness, and reaffirming Liverpool on the inter- national stage as one of the truly great world cities, is the prize that is at stake this year. It is a unique opportunity.

It is right that the closest possible control is kept upon spending on the Liverpool Sound show, and it would be great to think that it will indeed break even or perhaps even realise a modest profit for the council's coffers.

But when the final count is done, any- thing other than a truly massive loss on the event should be regarded as a price worth paying to give Liverpool the kind of publicity money literally cannot buy.