SIR ELTON'S FINEST HOUR AT NEW ROAD

Dressed in a fetching red shirt and red trousers and a dark tailcoat with the words 'Burning Fire' around the waist, the superstar entered the stage in the baking heat to the riff of The Beatles' I Feel Fine.

A lively sell-out audience of some 17,000 rose to their feet to welcome him with rapturous applause before he launched into arguably one of his greatest songs, a drawn-out version of Benny And The Jets.

With the show up and running Elton swiftly followed that up with the classic Philadelphia Freedom.

"Thanks for coming along. I love football but I'm sick of the World Cup," he said. "Who cares about Angola versus Portugal? I don't even care about England," he joked.

Further crowd-pleasers followed, all delivered with real passion, including Believe, the emotive Daniel - met with a collective sigh by the hordes of Elton devotees - and the upbeat I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues. Interspersed with his back catalogue were a handful of less well-known numbers from 2004's Peach Tree Road.

On Rocket Man the star really shone. It was met with huge screams of elation on either side of the stage with close-ups of his fingers working overtime during several indulgent piano solos being beamed to the beaming audience.

There is no doubt his performance confirmed his reputation among the elite of the nation's entertainers and this wonderful show has to go down as one of the finest moments in Worcester's musical history.

CROWDS SOAK UP THE SOUNDS OF THE ROCKET MAN

THE Rocket Man came to Worcester and he didn't disappoint his thousands of fans with a supersonic performance at New Road last night.

It was the day many music fans had waited months for as Elton John, one of the world's biggest stars, took to the stage to the sheer elation of the Faithful City audience.

Dressed in a black suit and red trousers, the superstar - known for his lavish costumes and eye-popping performance - milked the applause of the sell-out crowd of 17,000.

"It's great to be here at this beautiful cricket ground in this wonderful setting," he said.

The Welsh support act The Storys entertained the crowd with an accomplished set of West Coast-influenced rock songs from their debut album.

Earlier in the day there was a real buzz around the ground as crowds of music-lovers began milling around the venue in the early afternoon, basking in the glorious sunshine as they waited to get in.

Sixty-three-year-old Kay Bodrozic, from Melbourne, Australia, had come along with her cousin Pauline Clements, aged 62, from Beechwood Park, Worcester, after their aunt Lynne Smith, from Northwick, bought tickets for them. Mrs Bodrozic, who is visiting friends and family, said: "I'm really looking forward to it as I've never seen him live before.

"My favourite of his songs is Candle In The Wind."

Meanwhile, Elton fan 45-year-old Sue Atterbury, from Church Street, Upton-upon-Severn, came along with her 19-year-old daughter Jodie and friend Lyn Salter, aged 43, from Clare Road, Malvern.

Mrs Atterbury has been an Elton fan for about 25 years and rates the star's 1975 album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy as her favourite. She said: "I've always been a fan and always wanted to see him but never thought I would. When I heard he was coming to Worcester I just thought 'I've got to go!'"

Sixty-one-year-old Richard Chamberlain, from Lower Broadheath, said: "I'm over the moon about it - it makes a change to have something like this in the city."

And 55-year-old Dave Spencer and wife Pauline, 51, from Avon Bank, Pershore, said: "We're really looking forward to it - he's always been an incredible entertainer. He and Bernie Taupin are fantastic songwriters."