About 20,000 fans packed into Carrington Park to see Sir Elton perform as part of his farewell tour, with many more taking up vantage points outside the ground for the chance to hear some classic hits from rock royalty.

He took to the stage to rapturous cheers and told the crowd: "I never thought I'd say this, but good evening Bathurst!"

Sir Elton opened the set with Bennie and the Jets off his 1973 album Yellow Brick Road before moving on to All The Girls Love Alice off the same album and I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues (Too Low For Zero, 1983).

He is expected to work his way through more than 20 hit songs from a career spanning half a century in a show that will last almost three hours.

He was welcomed to Bathurst by messages of support from fans that were displayed on the giant screen at Carrington Park, including a memory from Paige of learning to sing and dance to Crocodile Rock at school.

Earlier, support act Tate Sheridan told the growing Carrington Park crowd that this was his first visit to Bathurst.

Sheridan said he had seen Sir Elton's show a number of times and told the crowd they were in for "something special".

The grandstand was already three-quarters full when Sheridan finished his show about 7.15pm, three-quarters of an hour before Sir Elton was due on stage.

The food vendors were proving very popular with concertgoers descending on the ground after their day at work.

A group of music fans was spotted in the staff car park of the Armada Shopping Centre enjoying the music while others had set up for the evening near the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre.

Sir Elton arrived in Bathurst about 3pm aboard a private jet emblazoned with a giant E.

He made his way into the city in a black BMW to prepare for the show while members of his entourage followed behind in two vehicles.