It's a cliché to describe old showbiz hands as "consummate professionals".
But in Long Island native Billy Joel's case, it's a cliché he wears very well and based on Saturday night's outing, seems utterly happy to embrace.
After a sweltering Saturday in Auckland, the clouds descended upon Eden Park just hours before the 'Uptown Girl' singer was due to take to the stage. But in all honesty, just a touch over 35,000 would have endured hell or high water to spend time with the 'Piano Man' as he headed back to these shores after 14 long years away.
No support act, no jazzy tricks and with a bunch of '60s and '70s hits like The Jackson 5's 'I Want You Back' and 'You Can't Hurry Love' blasting away on the PA before the start, there was a level of nostalgia and expectation awaiting his return in this cross-generational crowd.
Taking to the stage with little to no fanfare just shortly before 7:50pm and departing some time after 10.20pm, the singer-songwriter launched into 1986's 'A Matter of Trust' before getting mischievous on 'My Life.'
Smiling knowingly to the crowd during the riotous refrain of "I don't care what you say anymore this is my life, Go ahead with your own life leave me alone", Joel's twinkle wasn't just confined to his peerless piano playing - it was clearly lodged in his eye.
Suited and booted, the New York entertainer finally spoke after cheers erupted through the crowd at the end of 'My Life' - it was a simple message but it said it all - "Good evening New Zealand, long time no see".
The crowd adored every second of it.
In many ways, with a career spanning some four decades, a gamely Joel's set relied on all killer, no filler - even if he did joke early on that he'd not written anything new since 1993, so "basically you're going to hear the same shit you wanted last time", referring to his 2008 sojourn at Auckland's Vector Arena.
Not that the crowd remotely cared - they were here to hear the hits, and bask in the glory of his return. And when they got to their feet the moment he came on stage, they stayed there.
In truth though, while Joel excelled on the piano, he came alive when he stepped away from the ivories and just got behind a microphone.
Remarking he "ain't no Mick Jagger" as he took to the front of the stage, one of the band struck up the riff from 'Start Me Up' to riotous applause and excitement from the crowd. Joel gamely played along, getting to the chorus before cutting the song short with a cheeky wave of his hands and dismissal, leaving the baying crowd desperately disappointed, yet highly amused.
'An Innocent Man', 'Zanzibar' all swiftly followed, and each one allowed Joel not just the time to shine, but his excellent backing band to have their moment in the setting sun of the night. Every single one of the musicians managed to balance the fine line between excelling and not upstaging the head honcho paying their bills.
But as dusk fell, 1977's 'Just The Way You Are' was deployed for the lovers in the crowd - and Joel's vocals carried just the right amount of fragility, vulnerability and heart as everyone united with him in song. Self-deprecation followed as he told the audience with another smirk, "Yeah, and then we got divorced" as the song wrapped up.
For the first hour, Joel was a more lively presence on stage - from mocking most audiences' out-of-key singing to brutally dissing Madonna's reliance on a vocal spray that hadn't worked out for her, Joel was your mate down the pub. He even took a swing at his own singing ability, worrying he couldn't hit the high notes and the crowd would know it was over for him.
Yep, the ole-time piano player entertainer was as quick with a quip as he was nimble on the ivories.
Bringing out his young daughters proved to be the sweet Eden Park moment the crowd wanted, as they sat dutifully behind his seat while he continued. Clad in pink soundproof earmuffs, they played with each other and mucked about at his feet while their old dad earned them a crust.
Yet as the show progressed, the interaction dried up and the "business end" of the concert kicked into full effect as the mix of rock, blues, boogie-woogie and jazz all combined for lethal effect.
'Only the Good Die Young', 'The Downeaster Alexa', 'Pressure' - the list was endless but it was only ever leading up to what the audience wanted.
Multi-instrumentalist Chrystal Taliefero led the assembled masses in a stunning rendition of the Tina Turner classic 'River Deep, Mountain High' sandwiched in the centre of Joel's 'River of Dreams' as the audience fervour reached its pitch.
After a spine-tingling version of 'Nessun Dorma' with Joel leaving the singing to his guitarist Mike DelGuidice as he accompanied him, and 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant', he deployed 'The Piano Man' to wrap things up. As the stadium lit up with a thousand phones held aloft like fireflies glowing in the wind, everyone took to their feet and began swaying and singing in unison, as if not a care in the world remained.
An inevitable - and welcome - encore suffered some sound mix problems - and Joel's polemic 'We Didn't Start the Fire' may have galvanised the crowd but, in truth, some of his vocals were disappointingly lost in the mix - not that anyone in the audience was going to penalise him for it. The fire was still burning, but the ember was wafting a little in the wind.
Yet, like 'Piano Man', it was 'Uptown Girl' which saw the crowd's cheers grow even louder than before - the wave of euphoria rose and continued as he segued into 'It's Still Rock and Roll To Me'. It then amplified as he wrapped things up with 'You May Be Right', with DelGuidice taking the mic and the band giving their all to the dying moments of the concert. They worked together as a well-oiled machine, and it showed in every second on stage.
"Sing us a song, you're the piano man, Sing us a song tonight. Well, we're all in the mood for a melody, And you've got us feelin' alright" the song goes - and Joel didn't disappoint at all leaving every member of Eden Park on a high for the 135 minutes he graced the stage.
He might be 73 years old, he may have slightly hobbled off at the end and hasn't written anything new since 1993, but based on Saturday night's performance and stage presence, he really doesn't need to do anything new.
His mix of rock and roll and bluesy piano swagger made for a masterful evening at Eden Park - and proved that age ain't nothing but a number, as he left every single all-ages audience member eating out of his hands.
