First Night: Mark Ronson, The Roundhouse, London

As well as the looks and cash – Ronson really rocks

Mark Ronson started his career with a pretty irksome job description: Celebrity DJ. A New York socialite from a wealthy, arty family who had nothing better to do as a young man than hang out with famous people and play his favourite records, he led a charmed life. So it would be pleasurable to tell you that his act is rubbish and he's got about as much musical flair as, oooh, Peaches Geldof. But as Ronson's oeuvre has expanded, it's become clear that on top of the looks, the cash and the connections, he also has – damn him – talent.

Rock and pop royalty are certainly sweet on him. His latest piece of work is a sassy remix of Bob Dylan's "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)", the first bit of tinkering with his back catalogue that Dylan has ever sanctioned. Ronson also produced two of the most popular and acclaimed albums of recent times for Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse, and then followed them up with his own collection of covers.

Version features an assortment of collaborators including Maximo Park, Kasabian, Robbie Williams and, of course, Lily and Amy. His north London muses are not on Ronson's roster of guests performers this evening, but it's a formidable line-up nonetheless, including Tim Burgess of the Charlatans, Sean Lennon and Liverpool's latest soul survivor, Candie Payne. Noel Gallagher even turns up to play a number with Ronson's support, the Coral.

Since it's the Electric Proms, Ronson has been given the reins of the BBC Concert Orchestra. His compositional skill was demonstrated by his LP's catchy, retro brass arrangements, and live they are just as infectious and bombastic in the hands of the orchestra and Ronson's own Bugsy Malone-ified band.

Ronson, dressed up in throwback pinstripe, is content for the most part to thrash away at his guitar, playing the ringmaster to his friends and protégés, but never stealing their thunder.

An opening overture and energetic instrumental take on Maximo Park's "Apply Some Pressure" is followed by a string of guest vocal performances. Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet takes on Radiohead's "Just" and adds to it the stagedive it demands (but which Thom Yorke presumably rarely attempts). Payne's cover of "Sunny" is both welcome and appropriate. Ronson also takes the opportunity to introduce his latest discovery, too: Adele, another London soul singer whose album he's just been working on.

It sometimes feels like you're at a charity event, waiting for someone to demand a donation. But when Tim Burgess of the Charlatans emerges to sing his band's classic "The Only One I Know", and Ronson tells a story of sneaking out as a boy to go and see the Charlatans play, the show makes a little more sense. Indeed, Burgess's all-too-brief appearance is the evening's high point, and it proves Ronson is not just a friend to the famous. He's a fan, too, just like the rest of us.