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Elton John at the Wachovia Arena

Fred Adams /The Times Leader

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Elton John at the Wachovia Arena

Fred Adams /The Times Leader

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By BRAD PATTON | For The Times Leader

Garnering standing ovations after nearly every song, Elton John kicked off the 10^th Anniversary Season at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza Saturday night with an inspired, tour de force performance before an appreciative capacity crowd.

Touring in support of “Rocket Man: Number Ones,” the man born Reginald Kenneth Dwight performed one hit after another in his third appearance at the Wilkes-Barre Township facility.

Not many artists can release an album that contains nothing but No. 1 hits. And unlike Elvis Presley, The Beatles, ABBA and The Bee Gees, Sir Elton is still around to recreate those timeless tunes on stage.

“This is our tenth anniversary,” he said before his final number, “and there are more people in the building tonight than ever before.”

The crowd, which wrapped around and behind the stage, was estimated at 10,000.

As his band played the opening of “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” the pianist strutted onto the stage in a long, black coat with tails over a pink shirt with black slacks, silver shoes and rose-colored glasses. Although he no longer goes into the falsetto he used on such 1970s favorites as “Rocket Man” and “Bennie and The Jets,” he was in fine voice as he did 25 songs in about two hours and 45 minutes.

The ultra-popular legend, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and knighted in 1998, was backed, as always, by a fine cast of musicians. Long-time drummer Nigel Olsson, percussionist John Mahon and bassist Bob Birch anchored the sound, as keyboard player Guy Babylon and guitarist/musical director Davey Johnstone supplied the flourishes. All but Babylon sang backing vocals as well.

In contrast to his highly visual “The Red Piano” show in Las Vegas, the road version featured a very simple stage design without the usual rock concert flair (smoke machines, strobe lights and fireworks). When you have a catalog of songs like those written by Sir Elton and Bernie Taupin, you don’t need such things.

Saturday’s show, the band’s last before resuming their residency at Caesars Palace on Wednesday, featured six songs from the 1973 double-album masterpiece “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” In addition to the show’s opening number and the title track, they did fantastic renditions of “Bennie and The Jets,” “All The Girls Love Alice,” “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” and “Candle in the Wind.” That last song, which was the only one of the evening John did solo, was the original version about Marilyn Monroe, not the revised one about Princess Diana.

The show was dominated by songs from the decade in which John was the biggest-selling artist on the planet. Early highlights included “The Bitch Is Back,” “Madman Across the Water,” “Tiny Dancer” and “Levon,” which took on an almost gospel-like feel.

Sir Elton and his cohorts also treated the crowd to “Take Me To The Pilot,” “Daniel,” “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word,” “Rocket Man,” “Honky Cat,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” and a fun version of “Crocodile Rock.”

The 1980s and 1990s were represented by “Sacrifice,” “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” and “Believe.”

After signing autographs at the front of the stage for a few minutes, the encore consisted of a rocking version of The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” (which John had done in the film version of “Tommy”) and a heartfelt rendition of “Your Song,” which John dedicated to all those in attendance.

“It’s such a great privilege to play music for a living,” he said. “I thank you all for that.”

If Saturday’s concert was any indication, the 10^th Anniversary Season at the Wachovia Arena is going to be a great one.