'The good old days are only starting!' Longford's Brave Giant are back!

“Been waiting years for this!”

“You’ve no idea how happy this makes me!”

“We need a Dublin gig, lads!”

​Brave Giant’s announcement of their August 14 comeback gig has sparked an outpouring of excitement from fans, with many already calling on the band to add more dates for live gigs.

The popular Longford band are reuniting to perform at the Marquee in Drumlish where they will be playing their first gig since performing at the festival in 2022.

Speaking to the Longford Leader, singer and guitarist, Ballinamuck man Podge Gill, said the initial response to Brave Giant’s comeback announcement has been beyond what they anticipated.

“Myself and Mark (Prunty) had stepped away from music completely so we didn’t really know how it was going to go down or if the positivity would be there, but it’s beyond what we anticipated so far. There’s been a lot of excitement, lovely messages and good wishes from people, which has been really special to see.”

Although the thought of returning to the stage had lingered in Podge’s mind for more than a year, it was the invitation to play at the Marquee in Drumlish that ultimately set the reunion in motion.

Explained Podge, “There’s been a lot of people over the last few years that have said to me, ‘would you not get back to it?’ I didn’t want to really return to it until I wanted to or felt like I could either, because I think it would have just been really for the sake of it and wouldn’t have had our hearts in the right place.”

“It’s beyond six years now since we had announced that we were going our separate ways. It’s quite hard to believe it has been that long, but it’s really great to be coming back now and the timing feels right. We also have new members which brings a new found enthusiasm. We were just practising again last night and it’s all really coming together as we had hoped, so we’re really, really excited.”

Now that word is out about Brave Giant returning to the stage of the Marquee on Friday August 14, large numbers are anticipated to attend the gig of the summer.

Although the band’s parting of ways back in 2022 was a joint decision, with Podge initially welcoming the break from the hectic schedule, he has in recent times found himself missing the music industry, particularly the camaraderie of creating music and performing live.

He explains, “You miss the environment of being around other like-minded individuals that want to create music and performing live. You always feel as if you’ll go back to it but it was also a case of if I don’t go back soon, I might ever return again so it’s been fantastic to just get back in that headspace and environment again.”

“It’s been a really, really good experience so far and especially coming back to the Marquee in Drumlish which is mine and Mark’s hometown and a festival that holds really special memories for us as a band.”

Brave Giant fans can expect to hear all their favourite hits. The only change will be the line-up with six members instead of four for the bands return.

“It’s great to have a wider range of musicians on stage than we had previously, and it should translate to a bigger show than we’ve ever had before” Podge explains. “It’s great to have a wider range of sound coming from the actual stage itself” Podge explains.

“One thing that we’re really itching to get back doing is creating and writing new music. There’s certainly new music on the horizon and we hope to record some once we have the Marquee done, all going well.”

Among the many original Brave Giant fans planning to attend the Marquee will be a new generation of supporters. Evidence of the band’s ever growing appeal can even be found online with over 100k monthly listeners on their Spotify page, and in the many messages of excitement posted underneath the comeback announcement on social media.

One such message came from a new fan who only just discovered Brave Giant’s music earlier this year and had been gutted to learn the band were no longer together. Describing the gig announcement as “great news”, she followed with the request, “hope you continue to Limerick soon!” Other comments contained similar pleas.

Said Podge, “It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to come back and play to up on 2,000 people again.”

“It’s not something that’s taken for granted at all and are thankful to the Marquee in Drumlish for giving us the opportunity to return. I suppose there’s a younger generation of music fans that never got to see us so it’s going to be nice to be able to play to a new batch of fans as well as everybody that used to come and see us beforehand as well.

“It’s really, really exciting. The good old days are only starting, please God!”