Elton John performs Funeral for a Friend (Loves Lies Bleeding) to an appreciative sold-out crowd at the John Labatt Centre last night. (MORRIS LAMONT, LFP)

LONDON - The tickets sold out in five minutes -- the show went on for more than 2 1/2 hours.

No wonder Elton John was throwing around his favourite "fan" word at the John Labatt Centre last night before 10,300 boomers who remembered when rock was young.

"You're absolutely fantastic," John told the crowd about two hours into the set. That was before the crowd and the superstar rocked as one mammoth jukebox on the main set finale of Crocodile Rock, The Bitch is Back and Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting).

Now, that was fantastic. Thousands of fans sang the nonsense syllables, the "la-la-la-la-las" on Crocodile Rock, the pop rock classic John had introduced with a little popping noise.

John posed on the piano and kicked his legs out during The Bitch is Back. Then it was time for Saturday Night, given a bruising treatment by John and his band, with drummer Nigel Olsson looking ecstatic to be driving a song he must have played hundreds and hundreds of times before. There can't have been too many times the thrill of hearing it live was so audible for fans who had waited decades to hear Sir Elton in London.

"We're extremely happy to be playing here for the first time. We've never played here," John said early in the set after at least three standing ovations. The first was for his arrival, sporting a spectacular long coat with what looked to a snowman doing the croc rock embroidered on the back.

The second ovation was for the first song, including Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding). Bennie and the Jets, with John showing off his piano like a Jerry Lee Lewis from another, gaudier planet, was just right for another ovation.

So it went -- breathless, smooth and hit after hit, "old songs, new songs and some brand new songs" as John promised in his first of many delightful talks.

His tour was in support of The Captain and the Kid (Mercury/ Universal) -- the sequel to 1975's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. Both are collaborations with lyricist Bernie Taupin, who is identified as "the Kid."

It's easy to see the Captain has stayed fantastic over the decades.

The middle of the show was devoted to the new CD with a couple of sombre, even tragic songs. The Bridge was dedicated to Jenny, a close associate of 30 years, who suffered an aneurysm yesterday and is fighting for her life, John said.

"I just hope she is able to cross 'that bridge' so I can see her again when I go home," he said. Blues Never Go Away is another song about loss -- it's about the death of so many friends -- and the audience stood and applauded for them, too.

John also talked about the autobiographical songs on the CD. Tinderbox describes the times when he and Taupin had gone their separate ways and The Captain and the Kid plays on their earlier partnership as "a bookend," he said.

Even the best-known songs were good for some talk. Early on, John took the audience all the way back to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, saying it was important enough to put back in the set.

So were so many other John classics -- Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Rocket Man, Daniel, Levon, Someone Saved My Life Today, Candle in the Wind (opening the encores) and Your Song.

John might have been the first superstar to play the downtown London arena if a deal could have been struck four years ago.

Well, it was worth the wait. He played almost forever. He played almost everything. He waved to thousands and signed autographs.

Yes, Sir Elton, you were fantastic.