'World's largest-ever paid concert': Controversial singer draws crowd of 450,000 in Croatia

Tens of thousands of people flocked to Zagreb on Saturday to attend a show by controversial Croatian nationalist rock singer Marko Perkovic Thompson, which was being billed as the world's largest-ever paid concert.

Police said more than 450,000 tickets had been sold for the concert at the Zagreb Hippodrome. Most of the streets in the Zagreb city centre were closed for traffic and some 6,523 policemen had been deployed.

Thompson, who has had concerts banned in several European countries including the Netherlands and Switzerland, is accused by critics of flirting with the ideology and iconography of Croatia's Nazi-backed World War Two Ustashe government.

The singer, who takes his nickname from the U.S. Thompson submachine gun and rose to popularity in the 1990s during and after the war that followed break-up of Yugoslavia, rejects accusations that his songs glorify the Nazi-backed state.

Historians say the Ustashe systematically persecuted and murdered Jews, Serbs and Roma between 1941 and 1945.

Thompson has previously said that his songs simply represent a love of God, family, homeland and people.

His fans, many young and carrying or wearing Croatian flags, agreed.

"I expect it to be good, great fun, lots of people and an unforgettable experience," said concert-goer Josip Gelenger.