Springsteen covers Lorde's Royals in NZ

Rock veteran Bruce Springsteen performed an acoustic version of Lorde's Royals at his concert in Auckland.

Bruce Springsteen has performed Lorde's hit song Royals at his concert in Auckland. (AAP)

Bruce Springsteen has performed Lorde's hit song Royals at his concert in Auckland.

Springsteen, 64, and The E Street Band played at a sold out show at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

Springsteen opened the show with an unpredictable cover of Lorde's hit Royals.

"Stripped back to a bare bones acoustic reading, certain lines could have come straight out of his own songbook: `we don't care, were driving Cadillacs in our dreams'," Sean Sennett wrote in Notes From The Road: Auckland #1, a blog on Springsteen's website.

"The response was enormous."

Springsteen dedicated My Hometown to "our friends in Christchurch".

The show sold out in minutes and a second show was added at the stadium for Sunday night.

Lorde, 17, topped charts around the world and has won international awards with her single Royals.