TAUNTON had seen nothing like it before.

The anticipation in the town on June 16, 2006 was immense.

This was because the superstar Sir Elton John was performing at Vivary Park that night, and the county town of Taunton were up for it.

Almost 21,000 fans spilled onto the hallowed turf at the County Ground from 4pm onwards which was well before Sir Elton's performance time.

After the warm-up act, The Storys finished their set, fans were loud in their cheers for the main event.

And in a very cool, no-fanfare, type of way, Sir Elton John nonchalantly walked on to the stage in his smart suit catching the crowd off-guard.

It took a few moments but when the crowd spotted him on stage the noise was indescribable, and a Mexican wave ensued around the cricket ground.

Sir Elton's face burst into a huge smile as he repeatedly bowed and fired his finger at the adoring Taunton public all while saying thank you to the fans.

He settled down behind his piano and opened the show with Bennie and the Jets.

Press photographers greedily snapped up every movement but once the first song had finished they were ushered away so Sir Elton could use more of the stage to entertain the fans.

He went on to sing some of his classics; Daniel, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, The Bitch is Back and Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, at which point the sun did actually popped out from behind some clouds.

He said all the right things about Taunton, praising the "historic" cricket ground, name-dropping some of the old stars, including Ian Botham, who beamed down from the stand named in his honour as his mum Marie was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday.

If he hadn't done so before, Sir Elton had won the hearts and souls of Taunton.

He stayed on well past his finish time, playing for over two hours, hit after hit.

He signed a few autographs of people in the front rows and then finished with Your Song, before telling the crowd that Taunton was the best audience he'd played to on the Night Under the Stars tour.

After the event the Somerset County Gazette spoke to a number of fans who attended the event and the overriding view was that the show was incredible.

79-year-old Dolly Offord said she was bopping along all night and particularly enjoyed Crocodile Rock.

Emma Holder, Chris Denner, Simon Holder, Charlie Holder and James Holder said: "We've seen him before at Ashton Gate but this was even better and The Storys were a well chosen support act."

Alison Coombs and Jamie Brown said: "It was wicked, honestly the best show ever."

There was even a hens party at the gig; Kathryn Bale from Bridgwater was taken blindfolded by her friends and family to the show.

Her sister Jo said beforehand: "She has no idea where she is, she is going to be very surprised when she finds out!"

Also the show created a need for more gigs at the County Ground, Amanda Tubb and Rebecca Redstone said: "Can we have more concerts here please?"

Ben Martin, who was part of the team at Marshall-Arts which put on the concert said although Taunton is not a top venue for live acts, following this show's success promoters are keen to do more there.

"From our perspective, it was fantastic - selling 20,000 plus tickets was incredible and we felt very privileged to go into a ground in the height of its busy season.

"Elton hopes you will have us back!"

And they did, Sir Elton returned in 2012, six years later and did it all over again, but that is a different story.