The crowd are winners of a competition to see who could gather the most friends, friends of friends and friends of friends of friends (you get the picture) to take over the cool confines of O2 arena offshoot, Indigo, and witness the launch of Moby's new album, Last Night.

The shape-shifting New Yorker is also joined on the bill by the well-respected Trentmøller and fellow dance heavyweight, Mylo. It's Hector who kicks off proceedings though with a set of melodic, chunky, funky house. It's a set that goes down well with the crowd and does not allow repetition to overcome creativity.

Trentmøller then takes over to ply the throng with a wildly, wonderfully varied selection which takes in a version of Peter Gunn, bleep-heavy, quirky house, Aphex Twin's Windowlicker, Joy Division, rousing techno, Nirvana and Hercules and Love Affair. But it's when the Dane drops in a mix of Go that the smiling masses go barmy. It's a hard act to follow but next up is the man who first came to prominence with that very track, a certain Richard Melville Hall.

Everyone in the venue seems to be really happy and buoyant throughout which may be down to the fantastic music but the fact no one has paid to get in also means the night is free of expectations. Well, aside from one expectation: that an album launch may involve a live set rather than a DJ set from Moby.

Any disappointment is quickly dispelled as Moby plays a crowd-pleasing set, the words 'Disco Lies' (the name of the forthcoming single) forming his gargantuan backdrop. He spins through many shades and flavours of house, from funky to pounding to bass-heavy, and laces it with big tunes and selections from the new album. Hey Boy, Hey Girl gets filtered and twisted, Where's Your Head At? flows into brilliant album standout The Stars while the finale comes in the form of crazy, 1,000 bpm head-mangler, Thousand.

It forms a breathless end to a masterful set but there's still more to come as Mylo steps up. The Scotsman takes us into the early hours with a mix of modern electronica and house, old classics and selections of his own material.

A live session from Moby would have made tonight perfect but any criticism was swept away by the quality of the DJing, and by the gesture that it was completely free of charge. This was a night where everyone that attended got a chance to feel special and spoilt in more ways than one.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees