From the gentle opening ballads of “Blossom” and “So Far Away”, to the thigh-slappin’, boot-scootin’ “Smackwater Jack” (“he bought a shotgun, cos he was in the mood for a little confrontation”), the duo and their seven-piece band played into the hands of their fans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and kept us enthralled for almost three hours.

King and Taylor first met and worked together in 1969, by which time the former had already written a swag of hits with ex-husband Gerry Goffin. Their musical connection led to the pair performing live together at Los Angeles’ legendary Troubadour club, where King gave her first live performance. Their reunion at the club’s 50th anniversary in 2007 sparked the idea for an international Troubadour Reunion tour, which began in Melbourne at the weekend.

Perhaps the fact that the tour has only just kicked off accounts for the show’s fresh feel, despite the “maturity” of the performers (King is 68, Taylor is 62 and three of the band members also played at that original Troubadour gig) and the fact that we have heard the songs so many times. The performers’ joy in the music and their excitement at performing together was obvious.

King, whose voice is somewhat huskier than in her Tapestry heyday but no less beautiful for that, spent much of the evening at the piano, but showed she can still shimmy across the stage with the 1967 Aretha Franklin hit “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, and “I Feel The Earth Move”. Taylor also clearly relished the chance to pick up the electric guitar and show off his rock moves in songs such as “Steamroller”.

For me, though, the highlights were the beautiful duets: “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (the first of her songs King ever heard played on radio), “Crying in the Rain” (written by King for the Everly Brothers and later recorded by Taylor with Art Garfunkel) and “You’ve Got a Friend” (a hit for Taylor and Roberta Flack). All remain as powerful today as they were when first recorded.