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Liverpool will face Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield in the Champions League(Image: Aurelien Meunier - PSG/PSG via Getty Images)

As the news that Linkin Park will perform before this year's Champions League final reinforces football's willingness to now dovetail with music, it's a trend that Liverpool have been embracing for a number of years now.

It was confirmed on Wednesday that the legendary rock outfit will be at the Allianz Arena on May 31 to perform before the European Cup final kicks off, continuing the sort of pre-match festivities that have seen the likes of Dua Lipa, Black Eyed Peas and Camila Cabello all earn UEFA pay-days in recent years.

"This marks a totally new experience for us as a band and we're excited to share some of our favourite songs from the past and present, with the thousands in the crowd and the millions watching around the world," said Linkin Park.



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Dua Lipa's display, in front of Liverpool fans at Kiev's NSC Olympsikyi in 2018 was enough, in fact, to begin something of an unofficial kinship between the Londoner and Reds supporters, who can still be heard crooning along to One Kiss when the mood strikes, which is usually after a significant victory.

Some traditionalists are against the deployment of major music acts at sporting showpieces, with detractors likening it to an Americanisation of football, where such agreements are more commonplace for events like the NFL's SuperBowl.

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Liverpool, though, have no such qualms about hosting the big names during football's off-season and have been doing so for six years on and off.

It was back in June 2019, barely a fortnight after the Reds had become Champions League winners, when they flung open their doors to welcome in music lovers.

As part of their 'This House Is Not For Sale' world tour, Bon Jovi performed at Anfield before Take That came to the venue as part of their 30-year greatest hits tour, ending with a special, bespoke rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone.

American songstress Pink also performed that same summer and enjoyed it so much, planned a return a few years later.

The ramifications of COVID-19 meant Anfield was unable to welcome in musicians until 2022, but the return of live shows saw three major acts arrive in L4 as the iconic The Rolling Stones played as part of their Sixty Tour to a sell-out crowd, before the legendary Elton John brought his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour to the ground on June 17 that year.

A star-studded summer concluded with The Eagles taking to the stage for their 50th anniversary tour, bringing the curtain down on a memorable few weeks for one of the most famous stadiums in world football.

The Anfield Road expansion project meant 2023 was a quiet summer, but last year saw the city become gripped by Taylor Swift-mania as the American phenomenon sold out Anfield for three nights as part of her Eras Tour, before Pink returned for her own Summer Carnival Tour, which was added to the schedule on the back of "unprecedented demand".

Liverpool are permitted to stage up to a half-dozen non-football events at Anfield per season, as per their agreement with the City Council, but the logistics involved in putting on music concerts of this magnitude - the dismantling and rebuilding of enormous stages; staffing each event with Liverpool staff; putting on hospitality - means it is an around-the-clock operation.

In September, a report by consultancy firm Turley Economics revealed the financial benefits to the city region as a result of these mid-summer shows, with a figure estimated to be over £31m benefiting the local economy.

It's an impressive figure and one that could swell further if the agreement with the City Council ever extends past six shows per summer.

Paul Cuttill, Liverpool's vice-president of stadium operations, said the Anfield expansion, which had seen capacity increase from 45,000 in 2015 to 61,000 by 2024, was a major factor in bringing A-list acts to Merseyside.

"[A total of] 150,000 people came through the turnstiles for Taylor Swift," said Mr Cuttill.

The Pink show took that ballpark figure well past the £10m mark for 2024 alone.

Ben Latty, Liverpool FC’s chief commercial officer, said: “We’re delighted to play our part in boosting the local economy and providing local jobs through the staging of concerts at Anfield.

“Anfield has attracted the biggest stars on the planet, including three nights of Taylor Swift, and we’re very proud of the successes we’ve had so far.

We’ve had incredible feedback from concert-goers, promoters and from local residents alike."

Councillor Harry Doyle, Liverpool City Council’s member for culture, said: “The redevelopment of Anfield stadium has been a huge success for the club – and the city.

The fact this iconic venue now doubles up as a world-leading concert venue each summer has been a tremendous boost to our tourism economy.

“The calibre of the acts the football club has been able to attract regularly puts Liverpool under a fantastic spotlight too, as we all saw when Taylor Swift came to play, and we look forward to hearing more major announcements for next year.”

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This summer will see Dua Lipa visit what has almost become the home of her adopted team since that night in Kiev nearly seven years, ago as part of her Radical Optimism Tour.