So I leaned over to the very nice women from Nebraska sitting next to me and I said, “How many chances are you going to get to dance on stage with Elton John?”

Maybe I should back up a little.

Elton John has been a fixture on the world music scene for more than 30 years, as a flamboyant rock icon in the ‘70s, a pop god in the ‘80s, a light-rock and Disney musical staple of the ‘90s, and now affirmed legend no matter what classification you try to put him in.

He has been performing about 75 shows a year at Caesars Palace for awhile now but my schedule has never worked out to be able to catch him when he was in town. This time the stars aligned and I finally had a chance to see his critically acclaimed “Red Piano,” as perfect a concert as you can ever hope for, somehow both intimate cabaret and outrageous stage spectacle all at the same time.

The stage on which he performs, inside the Colosseum at Caesars, is a massive affair, usually home to Celine Dion’s bigger than life extravaganza. For Elton’s show, they bring in saucy neon lights and giant inflatable set pieces to jazz things up a bit (or a lot) but it’s all about the star, sitting behind his red grand piano, banging out the tunes that were part of the soundtrack of the last three decades.

Pick a greatest hit and Elton will probably sing it. “Benny and the Jets,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Believe,” “Daniel,” Rocket Man,” I Guess That’s Why the Call it the Blues,” “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” “Tiny Dancer,” Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Pinball Wizard,” “The Bitch is Back,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Saturday Nights Alright,” and “Your Song” was on the play list on the evening I attended and if that isn’t a CD worthy compilation of classic music I don’t know what is.

He sounds terrific, full of growling vim and vigor, and if at nearly 60 years of age he doesn’t even bother to hit those falsetto high notes anymore (“Daniel you’re a star…”) it’s impossible to find anything to complain about. When the lights come down and he sings “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” in a touching tribute to the late, great Ray Charles it’s like you are in an audience of 20 at a small club. And when he fires up the gigantic inflatable breasts while showing a video of Pamela Anderson grinding on a stripper pole during “The Bitch is Back” it’s 4,000 people partying the way that partying was meant to be.

I understand why NBC balked at showing the Pamela video during the recent televised version of this concert, but it and the other photos, short films, and graphics broadcast on the gigantic LED screen behind the stage provide evocative touchstones to the music. “Daniel” features a film by David LaChappele that finally explains what that particular song is about (think Vietnam), “Rocket Man” has a segment with Justin Timberlake playing a young Elton, and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” has a dramatic pas de deux that speaks more elegantly to the cycle of domestic violence than any Lifetime movie ever could.

There isn’t a bad seat in the house except, oddly, the very front rows. If you decide to go whole hog for the $250 a pop tickets up front try to get seats house left because if you’re house right or third row center (as I was) you’re going to be staring at the piano mostly or, as in my case, the top half of his head over the top of said piano.

The good news is if you’re sitting in one of those front three rows, you’ll be allowed to run up on stage during “Saturday Night’s Alright” near the end of the show and dance around the big red piano as Elton sings. When people rushed up I, and the nice women from Nebraska, sat there for a minute not seeing the opportunity that laid before us, or perhaps too inhibited to do it. That’s when I leaned over and said what I said and the next thing I knew I was tripping as I went up the stairs in front of 4,000 people. Oh well. My stage dancing days are way behind me.

But I still got to dance on stage with Elton John so there, nyah.

Even if you don’t make it up to the piano for a brief boogie, you owe it to yourself to catch this show on your next trip to Las Vegas. It’s an unparalleled journey through modern American music with one of the most entertaining hosts around.