On his 14th or 15th visit to New Zealand (one disappeared somewhere, he said), Cocker showed the drive and energy that has kept him in the forefront of the music world.
The phrasing in some songs may have been different from the past, but that added to the journey.
When he sung of his neck being dirty and gritty, you wanted to have a shower. In Come Together, we could all feel his disease.
This was a masterful performance that, although slow to start, should keep Cocker fans happy for another few years.
Cocker walked on stage dressed in a suit, looking more like a businessman than a rocker. The jacket came off after the first song, the sweat started to pour, the air guitar, and sometimes air piano, started and the music hit another gear.
The older songs proved to be top billing with the audience, some of whom were Cocker sceptics at the start.
It was billed as a "dream pairing" of Cocker and George Thorogood and the Destroyers but it was an odd pairing. More than half of the audience seemed to know the words of every Thorogood song and were slow to warm to Cocker.
But Cocker took it all in his stride and converted them all, with a little help from his friends - The Letter, Leave Your Hat On, Unchain My Heart and You Are So Beautiful. Few songs from his new Hard Knocks album were performed.
Thorogood and the Destroyers played at a blistering pace for 60 minutes, with Bad to the Bone getting prolonged applause. Who Do You Love had some in the audience dancing within minutes of the show starting. It was three hours of great music.
