Music Blogs

On other AEG-related matters, Phillips told Sky that the last minute cancellation of the Jacko residency would not have too negative impact on his company. He said: "Our company will be fine financially from this". As previously reported, it's been much speculated that AEG's insurance did not cover the entire Jacko residency, and that they would have to foot some of the bill for the cancellation. It does seem increasingly likely the promoter will be hit financially in one way or another as a result of the Jacko venture, though however big the hit, it was never likely to actually take a company as big as AEG down. Of course one way AEG are seemingly looking to limit its losses is with this 'buy your ticket' scam. As previously reported, the promoter is expected to tell fans that they can keep the rather fancy lenticular ticket for the show that never was for a fee. Or, rather, it now seems, they can keep the rather fancy lenticular ticket for the show rather than getting a refund. At all. That would mean that the piece of cardboard that presumably fans would have been able to keep anyway, for free, had the shows gone a head, will now cost them between £50 and £75. Of course, the bits of card will possibly become collector's items worth more than that on eBay, though any Jacko fan mad enough to want such a thing probably already has one, and will have already parted with fifty quid to keep it. Of course, you might say the whole ticket thing is a bit of a cynical bid to save AEG some cash, capitalising on the fact we all know Jackson's more dedicated fans are a bit nutty. But, I'd like to remind you, Phillips has already assured us that "since [Michael] loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death". Presumably it's just that the going rate for reverence and respect is fifty quid.