It took about 17 years, and another sweaty 40 minutes past the scheduled start time for the George Michael hit parade to pull into town.

But when it finally got going for a just-over half full Philips Arena Thursday night, it hit, it engaged, it often turned the downtown venue into a dancefloor, and you know, despite the fact that the air conditioner didn’t appear to be working the first half of the show, it was a lot of fun.

Appropriately enough, the pop superstar of the mid-to-late ’80s opened with “Waiting,” an obvious nod to the fact that Michael hadn’t been on tour in the U.S. in 17 years. And there at Philips Arena to welcome him back were especially well-groomed men — like Michael still is — and the occasional woman in the neon heels or “Choose Life” t-shirts that were especially popular at Michael’s peak, with his 1987 solo debut, “Faith.”

Curiously to some, Michael did not perform the lead-off hit from “Faith” - “I Want Your Sex”, or “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, the breakthrough single from the group that launched him, Wham!. He told USA Today when he announced his return that he felt songs like that made the tour too much of a party.

As if Thursday night wasn’t. Though Michael did incorporate ballads into his vibrantly-staged, two hour-plus set — including “Father Figure,” “A Different Corner,” a cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” an enchanting, slower reworking of the Police’s “Roxanne” and of course, the encore, “Careless Whisper” — the still incredibly soulful vocalist was off his gleaming stool most of the time, leading his nine-piece band (and six background singers) through club favorites “Fastlove,” “Hard Day,” “I’m Your Man,” “Outside,” and even incorporating a little “Burn Rubber” from the R&B trio the Gap Band.

“Am I working hard enough yet?” Michael asked the crowd about 90 minutes in. Like he didn’t know the answer from all of the stomping, dancing, whooping and cell phone-waving going on.