Redmond's "Scouse Wedding" Strikes Discordant Note

After the cringe-inducing apologia for the city of Liverpool on Friday night, it was to be hoped that the concert at the Liverpool Echo Arena the following night would be an improvement. Not quite, according to most reviews in the national press. Rather than resorting to cheap journalism, the review in Monday's Guardian was refreshingly even-handed:
http://music.guardian.co.uk/live/story/0,,2240237,00.html .
Alex Petredis begins his piece by noting the sardonic amusement of the audience, most of whom had shelled out £50 ($100) for the dubious privilege of being there, at the boast on a giant video screen: "the centre of the creative universe".
The ticket allocation for the event was predictably mired in controversy, with suspicions that the "great & the good", ie., local politicos, PR types, Corporates, etc. bagged the prize seats.
Of equal interest is the subject of Ringo's expenses. Much was made of the fact that he was performing for free, ie., no fee involved. However, the word is that his expenses were met by the Liverpool Culture Company, &, by extension, the city's council tax payers. His expenses are believed to amount to £35,000 ($70,000). Nice deal for his weak warbling ("Liverpool, I left you/But I never let you down").