Bruce Springsteen was ready to rock in Saturday’s first of two nights at Mohegan Sun to close out a spring tour — and he had a longtime ally back in the fold. But guitarist Steve Van Zandt, who’d missed previous dates to work on his Netflix series Lilyhammer, questioned his own stamina after a feisty duet on “Two Hearts,” asking Springsteen if he did this every night. The reply: “Every f—in’ night!”

Well, every night might not be quite as rocking as Springsteen’s kickoff to his only area stop at Connecticut’s cozy Mohegan Sun Arena – or as long, at three hours and 10 minutes. But in super shape at age 64, the Boss still knows how to bring it, and then some.

He began the show with the ruminative surprise of “Racing in the Street (’78),” an alternate arrangement of that song, played solely with pianist Roy Bittan until the rest of the E Street Band joined in. Or should we say the E Street Orchestra given the 18 musicians onstage — including five horn players (with the late Clarence Clemons’ nephew Jake on tenor sax), three backup singers, four guitarists with Van Zandt, and the old backbone of bassist Garry Tallent and drummer Max Weinberg. However, that opening song – and others across the night – could have easily benefitted from a more stripped-down treatment.

Then Springsteen bore into the Clash’s “Clampdown” (with guitarist Tom Morello splitting lead vocals and the horn line adding martial drums) and “Badlands,” and the show’s high-energy pace was set – and the setlist flew off script, starting with a string of covers.  After the horns fused with Morello’s guitar on the Havalinas’ “High Hopes,” the title track of Springsteen’s latest album, the Boss counted out Eddie Floyd’s Stax-soul oldie “Raise Your Hand” and strode to a mid-floor catwalk where he even guzzled a fan’s beer before body-surfing back to the main stage. And grabbing a few request signs, a grinning Springsteen flashed a paper plate with clock hands at his bandmates, cuing the Gary “U.S.” Bonds hit “Quarter to Three” to complete a pair of rock ‘n’ soul nuggets that he’d encore with in the late ’70s.

The curves kept coming, first with a sign-requested “Stayin’ Alive,” the Bee Gees disco smash turned into a slick swamp-gospel buildup with the horn players and backup singers roaming the lower stage over a scratchy groove iced with violin.  The Boss then busted out two songs he wrote for Southside Johnny, the ballad “Hearts of Stone” and the horn-stoked “Talk to Me,” working the edge of the crowd like a charmer before rocking The River rarity “The Price You Pay.” If the first night at Mohegan lacked such epic breakouts as “Backstreets” (originally on Saturday’s setlist), “Jungleland” or “Rosalita,” the heart of the set proved Springsteen and Co. were having a blast.

More crowd-pleasing fare came back-to-back in “The Promised Land” and “Prove It All Night,” which at least wielded import in its practical Springsteen credo and climaxed with guitarist Nils Lofgren spinning in place while he played a searing solo. The brooding mantra of “American Skin (41 Shots),” a condemnation of authorities shooting unarmed youths from  Amadou Diallo to Trayvon Martin, lent serious contrast — as did the haunting “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Morello, who once recorded that Springsteen song with his band Rage Against the Machine and recut it for High Hopes, pulled out all the sonic stops Rage-style, pumping his wah-wah pedal to scratch his guitar like a DJ and even slapping the plug into his palm. His presence was quite a plus this tour.

Despite spreading the spotlight to his expanded crew, Springsteen nonetheless commanded the proceedings with his physical and personal connections to the crowd. House lights blazed through a home stretch sporting “Born to Run” (where Springsteen let fans flutter their fingers against his Telecaster as the band wound up the reprise), “Dancing in the Dark” (where he slid into the pit to slow-dance with a dazed woman) and the Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” passionate to the end, when he fell to his knees as a prisoner of the “ass-kicking power of rock ‘n’ roll.” Yet that encore run began and closed solo acoustic, with New Jersey’s favorite son waxing about “Growin’ Up” and sounding as resonant as ever in voice, yet letting 10,000 voices carry verses of “Thunder Road.”

Springsteen had joked with Van Zandt about the magic when one plus one equals three rather than two, and you knew the audience was included in that equation.