On Monday night, The Disco Biscuits rounded out their four-night hometown New Year’s Eve run at The Fillmore Philadelphia with a surprise revival of their first rock opera, Hot Air Balloon, for the first time since 2007, celebrating 20 years since the band debuted the suite of songs on December 31, 1998, their first big NYE performance. As with that night two decades ago, fans at last night’s show were given pamphlets explaining the stories behind each of the opera’s nine song scenes (played over two acts).

Decked out in appropriate steampunk outfits matching the characters of Hot Air Balloon, the Biscuits ran through Act I of the opera for set one, from “The Overture” to “Eulogy,” with pianist Holly Bowling stepping in during “The Very Moon” for a solo section as the character Leora of the Sequoias. Set two rounded out the opera with the triumphant second act, ending with the titular “Hot Air Balloon” finale. Set three returned to the Biscuits’ NYE tradition of “Helicopters” with altered lyrics to celebrate the occasion, then the band returned for an encore of Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell.”

See the full setlist below. As with their entire NYE run, The Disco Biscuits offered a free stream of last night’s performance via their YouTube channel. Watch the full New Year’s Eve Hot Air Balloon celebration below. Next up for the Biscuits is a short winter run of shows kicking off late this month with two shows in Washington, DC.

The Disco Biscuits
The Fillmore Philadelphia, PA

Sets I and II were a complete performance of the Hot Air Balloon rock opera, which debuted 20 years earlier 12/31/98

Set I: The Overture, Once the Fiddler Paid, The Very Moon* > Voices Insane, Eulogy

Set II: Bazaar Escape > Mulberry’s Dream, Above the Waves, Hot Air Balloon

Set III: Helicopters > Mr. Don > Great Abyss > Helicopters

Enc: Run Like Hell

Notes:
*with Holly Bowling as Leora of the Sequoias

Source: https://www.facebook.com/discobiscuits