“I know y’all seen it all over the news, I almost didn’t make it to the concert,” boomed Busta Rhymes to the excitable young volunteers at the first ever Orange RockCorps show.

The US organisation launched here this summer and signed up around 5,000 mostly young people to do four hours’ work on community projects in exchange for a gig ticket.

However, the volunteering didn’t work out so well for Busta: the US rapper was detained by immigration officials at London City Airport for 11 hours because of assault convictions back home and made it to the concert, avoiding deportation, only after a High Court hearing.

He was part of an evening that felt more like a TV show than a real gig, with a crowd that was always willing to whoop for the Channel 4 cameras and, in Alex Zane, a host with an endless supply of unthreatening humour and scripted sincerity.

Nevertheless, there was plenty of good-natured revelry at this reunion of volunteers who seemed to cheer loudly for everyone.

That was understandable for sweaty soul man John Legend, less so for Guillemots, whose experimental pop seemed out of place.

Even Brit-rock journeymen Feeder got a delirious reception for their hit Buck Rogers.

But the fans were really waiting for the rappers and when Ludacris first emerged in an expensive-looking sweatshirt, the show reached another level of noisy anticipation.

As usual with hip-hop, the limited production involved a couple of blokes with microphones and a DJ but Ludacris also brought energy and a big grin, even during the menacing Move Bitch.

Busta Rhymes, an imposing figure whose real name is Trevor Smith, showed a similar no-frills approach, although he also had a populist touch, breaking into songs by Queen and the Pussycat Dolls.

It was boastful and aggressive yet undoubtedly fun, too, even if the stop‑start dynamic and brief bursts of tunes such as Fire It Up could be frustrating.

Busta didn’t mention his legal problems until the end when he thanked his lawyers and the more sympathetic immigration officials, and he recalled his recent visit when he managed to get in to help on a Lambeth community and sports project.

“I was out there cutting trees with you! We was picking up garbage together!” he bawled at the crowd.

Of course, they cheered even louder. With this sort of enthusiasm, RockCorps concerts will surely become a regular fixture.