EDINBURGH CASTLE esplanade is an excellent venue if it stays dry. Last night the evening summer sun smiled for Elton John. And the maestro tickled the old joanna with such polished precision that the throngs were near to bursting point with glee.

He's not the flamboyant piano-stool kicking pop-star of his younger days in the 1970s but he's still a glitzy give-it-all kind of performer and he's always going to give as accomplished a one-man show as you can expect to see anywhere in the world.

Sir Elton built them up slowly with some oldies-but-goldies, with one of the show openers, Greatest Discovery, dating back to his second album released in 1970, supplemented by more classics of the following decades such as the more recent Sacrifice. A couple of instrumentals, including Carla from The Fox kept the mood respectable before Burn Down The Mission from The Blue Moves album roused the crowd, not least of all the kilted fan whose manic motioning managed to stir a section of crowd numbering upwards of a 1000 to mimic his gesticulative delight, much to the bewilderment of those to whom the rouser was out of sight.

While it's unclear whether the neighbouring aficionados of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, who had prior to the gig feared Sir Elton would drown them out, the capacity 8500 Castle crowd certainly did.

Slightly cruelly described as the Queen Mother of pop, he was more like a knight in sequinned armour. shining like a star. A super star, darling.