There was an understandable mood of jubilation in the air as Mark Ronson, pop’s current man with the Midas touch, opened a short British tour at the 3,000-capacity Plymouth Pavilions. Crowned at the Grammys this week as Producer of the Year and nominated for three awards at next week’s Brits, where he is booked to perform, the man who quietly steered Amy Winehouse to the top was basking in the glow of an annus mirabilis.

Ronson’s trick, as seen on his own double-platinum album, Versions, is to bring out the best in those gathered around him. On stage the 32-year-old DJ, record company boss, producer and songwriter carried himself like an old-style bandleader – clearly the man in charge, but not necessarily in the spotlight. Beginning with Inversion, followed by an instrumental arrangement of the Maximo Park song, Apply Some Pressure, Ronson stood to the side of the stage playing some nimble guitar parts while a cast of musicians including a horn section and a string quartet established a sound steeped in the traditions of the American soul revue bands of the 1960s.

The show quickly took on an edgier hip-hop dimension as the rapper Rhymefest burst into action and, together with the New York singer Tiggers, the ensemble took off on a high-energy reading of the Britney Spears hit Toxic. Rhymefest welcomed the crowd to what he described as the best show on Earth. Ronson didn’t seem inclined to disagree although his album’s big star guests – Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Robbie Williams – were conspicuous by their absence. No matter. A holding room at the back of the stage was full of singers ready to step into the breech. Candie Payne took Lily Allen’s part in Oh My God while the American singer Kenna reprised his performance of Amy from the Versions album before taking on the Radiohead song Just.

The Australian singer Daniel Merriweather stepped up for three songs including the soulful ballad I Kill Myself, after which Ronson and the band launched into a sensational rare groove number, God Put a Smile upon Your Face, during which they sounded like a better-resourced version of the James Taylor Quartet.

Ronson led the way through the Shadows’ classic Apache, which incorporated another fiery rap from Rhymefest, before introducing Charlie Waller, the singer of support group the Rumble Strips, whose punked-up version of Amy Winehouse’s song Back to Black caused such a stir at the BBC Electric Proms last year. The show ended with a big, celebratory rendition of the Zutons’ hit Valerie, sung by a woman introduced only as Rox, and then Merriweather led the way through the Smiths’ Stop Me. This larger-than-life roadshow will take some stopping now.

Tour continues at Manchester Apollo, Saturday 16; Octagon, Sheffield, Sunday 17

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