Brand New Announce First Public Shows Following Hiatus

Brand New have announced their first public performances in several years, marking the band’s official return to the stage.

The band, led by Jesse Lacey, had previously played a secret “Friends and Family” show in Nashville in December to benefit Make Life Skate Life. Now, fans will finally get the chance to see Brand New on stage again, in their first publicly ticketed concerts since 2017.

Though the band’s social media profiles have remained mostly inactive—with their last Instagram post dating back to October 2017—fans began sharing screenshots of emails they received on March 3, containing presale information for the newly announced concerts, as per LambGoat. The band’s official website also lists the dates and presale details, confirming their long-speculated return.

The trio of shows will kick off March 26 in Dallas, Texas, before heading to Newport, Kentucky, on March 28, and wrapping up in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 29.

Lacey, who previously addressed the sexual misconduct allegations against him, admitted in 2017 that he had caused “pain and harm to a number of people.”

The fallout led to Brand New canceling all remaining tour dates, and the band largely disappeared from public view.

During a solo performance at Eastside Bowl in Nashville on March 2, Lacey also publicly spoke for the first time about the passing of his stepson Miles, who died in 2021. The intimate set featured a mix of Brand New tracks and solo material, including a new song titled “Death.”

“I’m not gonna talk too much about this, but me and my wife Andrea lost our son three years ago. His name was Miles, and it was as hard as you can imagine,” he told the crowd. “Grief is a very hard thing to navigate, and I have found that for me, music lessens the poison of it.”

The moment was met with quiet support from the audience, as Lacey expressed gratitude to those who have helped carry the weight of his grief.

In the wake of their loss, Jesse and Andrea Lacey also founded Moms Skate Club, a charity dedicated to supporting mothers in the skateboarding community. Donations to the organization can be made here.

While no word has been given on whether new music is in the works, Brand New’s upcoming shows suggest that the band is testing the waters for a more significant return. With their influence still felt across the alternative and emo scenes, their live comeback is certain to be a major talking point in the months ahead.

Back in 2017, Brand New scored their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, displacing Kesha’s Rainbow. The group’s Science Fiction, their first new album in eight years.