A definite pattern has emerged these last few years for me: namely, they all seem to start at Chinese Laundry. Thanks to Ivan Smagghe, Damian Lazarus, Hybrid, Marc Romboy, Claude Von Stroke and now Carl Craig, I’ve developed a kind of homing pigeon instinct. And why not? With headliners this good comes a cluey crowd and a festive mood that punches right through till dawn. The city might be teeming with pissed idiots looking for a fight, but in the depths of Laundry it’s all about the party.

Until now, Carl Craig’s name remained tantalisingly un-ticked on my must-see list. For whatever reason I managed to miss his last tour, and have been patiently awaiting his return ever since. The promise of a three-hour set in a room of a few hundred was more than I could’ve hoped for.

The courtyard is teeming upon our arrival, as late-addition Fort Knox Five warm up the dancefloor. In keeping with the Willy Wonka theme, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory loops surreally on the screens to a soundtrack of funk and breaks. It’s up to local resident Kid Kenobi to bring in the New Year in the open air and he does so with typically crowd-pleasing electro-house. Downstairs in the Chinese Laundry, MaTTT is keeping things deep and measured in the lead-up to MDX. With the “Happy New Years!” out of the way, it’s up to Switch to really fire up the Courtyard. I have fond memories of the man’s shirt-drenching appearance at Laundry a couple of years back, but wouldn’t count myself as much of a fan now. However, when it’s a big silly bassline you want (and it is New Years Eve, after all), he’s still the man for the job. Ignoring the dodgy mixing, the crowd gets right amongst the barrage of Switch remixes and fidget bangers.

The Club Club’s go-to guy for warm-up sets, Club Junque, uses his hour-long slot to set the pace consummately for Carl Craig. Come 2am, the Chinese Laundry is bustling expectantly for the Detroit legend. While as a producer Craig continues to inspire reverence, his reputation as a DJ is shakier. Some complain of his detachment – both musically and in demeanour – while inevitably others are awed by his command of the dancefloor. One thing is for sure: when he fires up Serato tonight, you know his hard drive houses some very special stuff (much of it his own).

In an interview before the tour, Craig told me he relishes the chance to play deeper in small clubs, but his Laundry set unfurls a little differently. The first hour is solidly jacking, if not a little erratic, and it’s hard to imagine how he’ll keep it up for another two. Thankfully, the set begins to weave in unpredictable – and flat-out fun – directions. While the man himself is characteristically stony-faced, the speakers tell another story. There’s not much of a ‘build’ to speak of, but the set swings happily between new cuts and time-honoured classics. DJ Rolando’s towering Jaguar and Jeff Mills’ The Bells shimmer up to appreciative cheers, while Inner City’s Good Life and Big Fun get hands aloft.

The final hour, though, is the clincher. On the cusp of 4am, the distinctive opening of Rhythim is Rhythim’s Strings of Life sends a special tingle through the room. It’s the ‘moment’ of the night. The final stretch also offers up the headliner’s own remixes of Junior Boys’ Like A Child and Morgn Geist’s Detroit (textbook Carl Craig brilliance, this one), alongside a real mixed bag of tunes. An acid bassline gives way to a dubstep track, before more Detroit groove. The eclecticism could be jarring, but somehow it translates to a rare experience: an intimate audience and Carl Craig just letting loose – in a stoic way, of course. The devastating Alive from D’Malicious (see Fabric 25) makes a late appearance, its hypnotic loop pummelling into the dancefloor. Incongruously, the set closes with a low-slung dub version of Estelle’s American Boy, leaving closing resident Reno in a weird place to follow from (he did fine).

Something tells me I’ll be greeting 2010 in familiar surrounds…