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Last night, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing hosted a very special Christmas shindig at a tiny little London venue, The Flowerpot. On the invite list were friends we've made over the course of 2009, plus some very special guests.

It was our chance to look back over the past twelve months and celebrate what has been a fantastic year, packed with incredible new bands, memorable performances and some great success stories.

What better place to start than with a completely new band - so new, in fact, that they'd never performed together before. For Bristol's , our Christmas party was the first time they'd all played together on stage! The quartet, formed in October 2009 after parting ways with previous bands, uploaded a couple of tracks to us on 18th November. Toby Field from Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Bristol immediately picked up on their obvious talent, forwarding their songs to Huw at Radio 1 and Tom at 6 Music, which led to us offering them a slot on last night's bill. Despite the rather surreal setting for a debut gig, they played a cracking, tight set. Sure we'll be seeing more of them in 2010.

Up next were Hereford siblings, Muchuu, who were the first band to be broadcast on Radio 1 as a result of uploading their songs via our website. Since introducing themselves to us back in March 2009, they've been played by our shows all over the country, supported by their local show on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Hereford and Worcester. More recently, the duo recorded a session at Maida Vale for Huw Stephens. We love their quirky blend of synth pop to bits and their festive set last night went down a treat.

Third on the bill were The Temper Trap, who were simply unmissable in 2009. Their track Sweet Disposition seemingly spent months in the Top 40 chart, peaking at no. 6. After recording a session for us in December 2008, fronted by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, the Aussies played at Radio 1's Big Weekend in our tent and later in the year gave us their tips for emerging artists. Last night their acoustic set was warmly received, as was their surprise cover of Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark. Thanks, chaps!

And finally, to recognise her remarkable success in 2009, we welcomed our old friend Florence Welch and her Machine back on to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing stage. There to introduce her was Steve Lamacq, who had inteviewed Flo earlier in the day on 6 Music (you can listen again to the interview on Ö÷²¥´óÐã iPlayer until 22 December).

The number of people in the tiny venue seemed to double as Flo took to the stage last night and she didn't disappoint, belting out versions of Dog Days, Cosmic Love and Rabbit Heart as if she were headlining Wembley and finishing with a cover of Wham!'s Last Christmas to send us all home with a festive glow. Lovely.

We'd like to thank everyone who came along last night. And if you're reading this, thanks for your support. We've got a feeling next year is going to be even greater than this one.

Check out more photos in our gig gallery.