Canal Mills welcomed in New Year’s Day with a variety of new and returning DJs to the venue. From early tastes of disco through to intense deep house, the night had a mixed but overall fun atmosphere.

Arriving at half 9 to the venue was surreal. With no body searches and no being shouted at by the security team – which those who go to the venue will be all too familiar with – it felt strange to have got into the venue within a minute, after arriving with our surge free Uber.

Floating Points performed a set which started off with an upbeat disco vibe, albeit to the near empty room. By half 10, his set changed drastically from charming disco to a mixture of techno and house which would boom throughout Canal Mills for the remainder of the evening.

Taking no prisoners with their intense set was Modeselektor, who kept the techno going. This would have probably better suited a set time beyond midnight. Despite this, the mixed bag of a crowd was warmed up and ready in time for The Black Madonna’s debut set in Leeds (apart from one poor fellow who was clutching onto a water bottle and was awaiting a full body search after being stopped by the infamous toilet attendant). For the rest of us, the room was ablaze with the wondrous set. With a great selection of genres masterfully entwined with techno interludes, Chicago’s woman of the moment gave the night the wonder we had all hoped for.

NYD at Canal Mills drew such a varied crowd I couldn’t help but wonder if people cared about the acts or just wanted to fit in another big night for what had been a big fortnight of partying. The evening will be remembered by the start of Floating Points’ set and The Black Madonna to whom I must thank for the list of Shazams we acquired from their tuneful selections that night.

Mark McDougall